


Planned Accordingly

by TheArcanaReveals



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Author is a Clay | Dream Apologist (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Pandora's Box
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArcanaReveals/pseuds/TheArcanaReveals
Summary: Dream was led to the prison, not stopping at all, no breaks in his movement, no fear in his posture. As though everything was perfectly fine, and he wasn't just sentenced to an inhumane hell for eternity.Because it was all according to plan.Others will probably realize later, not that it mattered as they'd probably never fathom the reason why. Dream's content, though. He has plans within plans, and he doesn't need to make any more.His different guests do indeed surprise him at times, though.Note: This is mainly an interpretation based on Dream's actions and perhaps mostly his inactions.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 177
Kudos: 901





	1. Designed and Consigned

"I'm sorry, Dream. You should have paid me more."

The portal hissed the words out, his favorite mercenary's voice echoing and reverbing as he strode through.

With an army consisting of most of the server at his back. Nearly all in similarly stacked armor, all silent and spiteful and grim. Their goal clear.

Their hatred, united.

His fingers twitch on his axe handle, having to stop his instincts from simply sliding forward and pressing the blade against the unarmored Tubbo's throat.

_It'd be so easy, take a hostage, and just talk talk talk-_

He loosens the grip. That's not the plan, anymore. Dream breaths out a surprised exclamation, somewhat more genuine than he'd thought it'd be. Punz really did come through, and he hoped this would set the young man up for any and all problems down the line.

Every piece was in place, everyone else was playing their parts masterfully, his own admittedly more tired than he expected.

Sapnap's talking, he should listen, really, but he's pretty sure nothing of value would be said.

Nothing he didn't already know.

Unconsciously, Dream steps back, closer to the things he could use as bargaining chips.

_Threaten any one of these attachments, cause conflict, unrest, drop an ender chest, splash an invis pot on them all and he'd-_

Do nothing. His role was done. He only had one final threat in him, and it wasn't for them. It needed to be for his designated Hero, the person whose ego he'd had to spend the better part of three weeks stroking in so few interactions.

Tommy stepped forward, as planned.

He dug a hole.

Planned, planned, planned. Items in, so many hours, so little worth.

He expects the first death. Tommy's high on power and he never restrains himself once he feels any of that sense of victory.

He didn't expect the clumsiness and wildness of the strike. Tommy isn't proficient in axes, and the swing buries into his clavicle, the pain lasts even throughout the second swipe into his ribs. The pain is unlike anything he'd ever experienced, completely unlike his deaths in the Outer Worlds, in the Manhunts and the Tournaments.

As he wakes in his bed, just above the hideout, his thoughts burst out into an uncontrolled frenzy of escape routes, distractions, buried plans.

_They don't know where my respawn was, I can run, I have an enderchest, iron, minecart tnt drop on them, damage potions, KILL TOMMY, SCREAM AT SAPNA-_

He shoves the panicked thoughts, all of them, down with practiced ease.

This… This was part of the plan. A sigh left his lips, the mask partially broken. Moving it to the side, he smiles, an almost carefree thing. He's certain it looks reasonably confident.

Dream tries not to think that his first Core Death actually did make him feel more confident.

He's sacrificed his crown for peace.

He's sacrificed his land for peace.

He's sacrificed his pride for peace.

He's sacrificed his home for peace.

He's ~~lost~~ sacrificed his relationships for peace.

He's ~~lost~~ sacrificed his morals for peace.

He's more than ready to sacrifice his life and freedom for peace.

Dream slides back down into the elevator, confidence and attempted delusional arrogance on his unmasked face.

The second death already feels less painful, Tommy's gotten better at using Nightmare. Even if the rabid savage child is literally foaming at the mouth, eyes wild as he screams out his intended violence and murder at the defenseless and surrendering man.

The crowds getting unsteady, the child's wildness is plain and it's make them question if this was right. Their morals as shifting and fair weather as always.

_'Can't have you people gain a sudden bout of empathy for me, only to take it out on Tommy later. Looks like I'm sacrificing freedom, then.'_

He makes his demand, his life for Wilbur's resurrection, for the resurrection of any future fallen. Tommy winds down as the crowd starts stepping forward. Sam takes the opening.

And like that, the pieces fall into place, Tommy starts regaining his composure, calling Dream his bitch, he stops paying attention after the child makes him admit to blowing up the community house.

It's practically automated, the way people relax, and start celebrating. The way certain people just keep staring at his mask, even as his face is bare. Uncertainty, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It doesn't.

Sam makes it clear his sentence is forever. He's basically a slave now.

He makes no argument.

The man shoves him into the final cell, and after confirming that he followed all instructions without complaint or issue, leaves without further word.

Dream sits down, leans back and contemplates if he should laugh.

He wonders if he should cry.

Neither happens, and he's fine with that.

This was it. His true goal, finally achieved.

One successful plan, finally putting an end to the thousands upon thousands of failures and reworkings of plans.

The entire server was united, none would challenge his imprisonment except Techno, and even then, only if he spent his favor.

Final Plan Team Chaos, his last resort if even this fails to work. Not a second before, because it was the worst case scenario.

He'd sooner swim in the lava than force himself back into the center of conflict.

Techno would take care of any more attempts to consolidate power through government, Tommy would finally pat himself on the back for taking down the top dog like he wanted to do from the second he arrived, Ranboo wouldn't have to pick any more sides, and Wilbur and Schlatt had offed themselves in their madness.

This… This was enough. It had to be.

Peace, everyone could finally settle the fuck down, stop trying to find reasons to attack each other, understand how fucking pointless this all was, and go on with their lives, content with how good they were with putting the bad man away.

He just had to rot in this cell.

An easy sacrifice, in comparison to all that he's lost at this point.

Just a few contingencies in play, his work finally done for the most part, Dream puts his mask down on the lectern and settles into his bed.

This was enough.


	2. Considerations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream's settled into his routine, suffering Tommy's annoying company and utterly pitiful attempts at emulating him, writing, practicing potato burning and singing, starve and wait for any better visitors.
> 
> Philza was admittedly not in his plans of who would visit him.

The cool blue outfit of Phil's uniform is neat and fresh. It's an odd detail, but after Tommy and himself having very little in the way of proper clothing, he's not surprised it's the thing that popped out to him the most.

Especially not with the way the man's sweating, the arctic outfit not helping as he crosses a bridge through lava.

Still, he's not a slouch when it comes to surprise visits, and he can guess a few reasons for this visit. The server's slave stands at attention, ready to greet the amiable anarchist.

"Phil! Nice to see you again, I'd offer you a cup of water, but I have to drink with my hands."

Left unsaid, was that he also had to bathe in said water and Sam had yet to realize that he was throwing that clock in the lava as an easy way to make him realize he needed to change it.

The blonde man smiles uneasily, Dream's unsure if that’s because he's the one whose greeting him or the environment, but he steps in as the lava starts pouring down.

"So, what can little old me do for you and Techno, Phil?" He gets to the point, there's not much use in prevaricating these days and he's very grateful for that.

Philza thankfully takes the invitation to sit on the bed, much more comfortable than the floor.

_Sitting next to a person decreases chances of anger and violen-_

Dream makes sure to smile wide, throwing that thought back into the pile of now useless information that makes up the majority of his life.

"I… Decided to investigate a little about how you got thrown in here, since ya'know… Techno's probably gonna be interested for… reasons."

The anarchist lays it out slowly, as if feeling the waters and Dream's rather certain that he's baiting for a fish.

He takes the bait, he has no real proper reason to be angry at Techno's ally.

Reasons aplenty to be angry at the absentee father of Wilbur Soot and Tommyinnit, but he can disconnect the two as easily as the man himself apparently can.

"Oh? And you wanted to clear up some things, I'm guessing?"

The words are lower, prompting Phil to whisper as well, even as his eyes start glinting. Anger.

"What you did to those people, no, never mind, I can understand _all_ that. What exactly did you do to _Tommy_?"

Dream hums, one of the reasons of this visit becoming crystal clear.

Again, he doesn't hold back. He can respect the man that much.

"I repeatedly made him throw his armor and weapons in a hole, in which I ensured they were destroyed. Afterwards, I protected him from mobs while hanging out with him. More and different items when he specifically broke the important rules. When he started behaving, I gifted him a new set of armor that he could keep."

Phil's eyes darken again, and he makes to speak but quiets back down.

The man with the mask leans back and lets his mind start turning, ways to unbalance and push Phil appearing and fading in the same instant. He doesn't particularly care about the man's opinion on this topic for a number of reasons.

The father of the victim in question is apparently unbothered in his continued pursuit of answers.

"…And the abuse?"

Dream is similarly unbothered.

"Axe hits across the armor, weaker hits against the skin, blunt sides, when he only partly listened."

Phil just stares at him, seconds turning into a full minute of silence, almost comfortable to Dream.

"…Was that all?"

"The physical aspects? All that I can recall."

Phil continues to stare. Dream's getting a tad worried when he still doesn't detect any actual intent to move. The man is clearly troubled, working through thoughts in a quick pace in his head, perhaps deciding how quickly to shove Dream into the lava.

No movement, though.

Finally, the man leans forward, away from Dream now that he's leaned back.

"And you didn't force people away? Didn't threaten people who showed up?"

The prisoner blinks, confused at the change of topic, but continues answering.

"I messed with the invitations to the party he was building when you found us, but aside from that? Surprisingly, not a damn thing, until I found his hidden bunker full of diamond gear."

_'I am not counting him having that fucking hallucination of me killing 'Mexican Dream', whatever the hell that meant.'_

The father stands up, curt but not violent, and starts pacing.

Silently, the pitter patter of his feet light and steady.

Phil stops and turns, staring directly into his eyes, and suddenly the dark glint has transformed into a desperate one.

"Dream, what-, no, _why_?"

The prisoner leans forward slowly, perhaps underestimating the sworn friend of his ally's ability to deceive as it's well within range for Phil to grab him and end him.

This deserved some directness, though. Frankly, he wanted to get angry, blame this man for all of his problems, for all the problems his children caused, blame him for everything he had to lose-

The anger, once a familiar feeling of power in spite of all adversaries, wouldn't come.

Perhaps he'd already sacrificed that too, at some point.

"… All attempts at logic didn't work. His hatred against me at first was… more akin to a thug looking at the top dog and deciding he needed to make me his bitch to survive. All his utter failures at attempting to do so just ended in him getting more and more invested."

Meaning in the words, his understanding of the child's reasoning go unsaid but definitely heard if the stuttered breath is anything to go by. The child who was a criminal, whose brother was a conman, reacting to a new environment like a common thug did in a prison?

There were _too_ many Prison Worlds out there, and Dream just didn't have any doubt that they had both at least visited one.

The start of their one-sided rivalry spirals from there, Dream's voice level and just a tad mocking, sometimes at himself, mostly at the idiots who started all their conflict in the first place.

"Wilbur came along, and suddenly his need to prove himself tripled for _some reason_ , and after they both failed together, they decided to make a coup. Rally a bunch of people to yell at me, call me a tyrant, try and turn my childhood friend against me, all to steal some damned land."

"It didn't work."

Phil's voice is stronger now, the desperation fading into sadness and an acceptance that Dream struggles to realize, voice breaking as he continues.

"Just as horribly as their other failures at first. I blew up their fortifications, made certain not to catch them in any of the blast zones since they decided to make a stupid statement like Independence or _Death_ without giving any of their fools some _damn armor_. Then… I planted my trap."

"The traitor."

"The decisive blow. They could- should have surrendered. Instead, they chose to follow on the promise of armor and violence and going down taking any of _my friends or I with them_. I showcased their mistakes, quickly and as painlessly as I could."

Phil nods, tears gathering in his eyes as he processes this.

Dream's not sure if his respect for the man is going up or going down. On one hand, he's genuinely probably the only damn person in this entire world whose seriously asked him why he did the things he did.

On the other hand, not taking vengeance for his childre-

Oh.

_'No wonder Techno loves this man so much.'_

Another thing for Dream to be jealous of his true rival for.

"Threatening physical attachments didn't work, I wasn't willing to actually perma-kill Tubbo or Wilbur, and he'd sooner shove himself on my axe than listen to me if he felt he had their support."

"And they… Always enable him."

Damn this man, Dream was supposed to be the all-knowing guy who understood people better than they knew themselves. He wasn't fine with sacrificing that! It was all he had left!

_'Pfft, please, I'd have sacrificed everything I've already did for this man,_ years _ago.'_

Phil collected himself, and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Dream has to stop himself from pulling his mask back onto his face, urge to hide his expression suddenly reawakening after weeks of not caring about anything.

"The duel?"

"Attempt at mutual respect. Failed miserably. Apparently, the leader of the _World_ taking off his armor, willingly letting himself get poisoned to clear up any harsh feelings in a final dual as well as give them a chance to win it all back? Still not worth dealing with _honestly_."

A harsh laugh breaks out of the standing blonde man.

"No wonder you and Techno get along."

Dream can't help but smile.

"I heard them both talk about it. The Pit, huh?"

Philza nods, his eyes easing closed.

"You know the worst thing?"

Dream doesn't respond in time for the man to not continue.

"What it clearly takes for him to… Learn... I-I have an ability, it lets me… Keep an eye on them, sometimes. Mainly, Techno and Wilbur. But when he's close to their things… I can see Tommy."

He opens reddened eyes and looks directly into his own, still frozen from his pacing and slouching.

"And I saw him break into Techno's house… Saw him ready to steal everything the man worked for in his retirement… And stop. Because _you_ wouldn't like it."

The prisoner freezes. Thoughts being rewritten, plans being dragged back up, an ember of hope long since burnt out starting to spark.

_'He… He didn't… Tommy was… able to learn?'_ he thinks, regret and hope warring with him, before instantly getting the thought cut down by what the father brings to his attention.

"And I can't help but think… If I had been there more… Would I have had to have… been just as harsh?"

The blonde hair and tearful eyes turned away, regret and self-hatred in his entire being. Shaking his head, he shudders, the thoughts of what 'could have been' clearly and visibly being purged.

"I… No. It was just…"

Dream stops himself from apologizing. It wouldn't have been sincere. He can't do that to this man.

He just… genuinely doesn't know. He had always thought about how _he_ had to interact with Tommy, the herculean effort to make the child listen at all to him.

He'd never really thought about how or why Tubbo and Wilbur almost never denied him, just labeling them as self-righteous enablers.

"You're… Understanding." Dream eventually settles on, feeling like a bigger moron than Tommy at the moment, because he has no idea if that would be enough for the father and son.

_'Wow. That… was pathetic. An understatement, too.'_

Phil looks back at him, eyes crinkling up.

"For someone who thinks so much about other people's feelings, you're… really just as uncomfortable as Techno with this stuff."

Dream isn't sure how to feel about that comment and he is even more unsure about how the man actually laughs at his silence. Phil turns towards the entrance and starts walking, chuckling the whole way.

"Shall I tell Techno to get ready for that favor?" The man smiles as he asks the question, clearly rhetorical.

Finally, Dream can actually surprise the man, and his smile widens even more genuinely.

"Nope."

There's a moment of silence, before Phil turns back, eyes wide, mouth wide open but still stuck somewhat on a smile.

"What?"

Dream's _just_ able to stop the laughter from bubbling up, finally back in a familiar situation, setting people off balance.

Only just.

"I'm in here, Tommy doesn't go on any crusades. Wilbur eventually gets brought back, hopefully clashing with Nikki and Fundy and they all forcefully make each other retire. Any attempts for power grabs gets thwarted by Techno. Punz is now a hero who helped lead the charge against the most evil person ever, he will help negate conflict and... I've got contingency plans for the Egg thing going around, just in case."

Inhale. Exhale.

"George and Sapnap no longer... Have someone to rebel against, and they've been hesitant about Quackity ever since he murdered someone to frame an innocent guy. They'll... Probably isolate themselves for the most part, like they used to. Quackity will realize how utterly alone he actually is, how powerless he is without people willing to sacrifice for him, and will never raise a blade against Techno again."

The silence is back, and Dream's pleased grin is starting to hurt.

Vindication. His plot actually having someone who cared and listened to it, definitely not a part of any of his plans ever since George betrayed him.

Surprises could be nice apparently, even if you had to wait a few damn years.

Phil eventually closes his mouth, shaking his head in an exasperated manner.

"Of course. Just a super villain thing, yeah?"

"The absolute most villainous thing I can think of. Making them live with their mistakes."

The older man continues back towards the leaving platform, shaking his head all the while, mirthful and emotional chuckles still slipping out of the man.

If there's a glistening on his cheeks, Dream doesn't comment.

The evacuation platform is stepped on, and as Phil begins to follow Sam's instructions, he stops.

Without turning, he opens his communications and sends Dream a message.

_ **Ph1lza: Thank you, for all your consideration towards my family.** _

That's… Not…

_'Damn it, Phil.'_ Dream curses in his heart, suddenly clutching his mask to his face.

Apparently, he still had tears left to sacrifice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet ya you didn't expect THAT type of ending. Funny thing is, I've got this Dream's plans setting up to intentional meetings with a goddamned time traveler, but fully believe even he couldn't predict this either.
> 
> Phil's a strange one, but honestly his children are fucking horrifying. It really says something when the bloodthirsty schizophrenic pig that he follows like a sworn brother is more justifiable than his children, and I frankly can't even fault the man in character for that. His children are just that bad!


	3. Relativity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unlike Philza, Dream actually did expect Technoblade. Technoblade is admittedly bemused.
> 
> Among other things, as Techno finally begins to realize that there just might have been more reasons that Dream was so willing to ally with him.
> 
> Techno-centric chapter.

The days without government were nice. The days without Dream were stressful.

Not that he cared about Dream, just the threat of his favor being called in. Him being in prison actually made him step a bit lighter, feeling that particular thread around his neck get looser.

Then Phil had told him that Dream wasn't calling in the favor.

The stress returned, and upon asking Phil why the hell not, making certain to shake the human just fast enough that his speech stuttered at the same time, he was treated to perhaps the most stressful thing Phil's asked the piglin hybrid in years.

"Y-You should... V-Visit him. M-Might learn a bit 'b-bout the other groups at the moment."

Techno stopped and let the man go, watching his best friend start chuckling himself into a frenzy as he shook off his dizziness, before excusing himself to go check on the farms and leaving the hybrid to his thoughts.

Visit Dream. Not really something he wanted to do. Dream and him weren't friends, just oft-allies of relatively equal power and similar humor, who sometimes called each other out and trolled each-

Okay, new task today, visit Dream and mock him. Yes, that makes sense.

He can hear it now, _'Wow!~ Look at this loooossserrrrr, trapped in a prison, couldn't happen to me!'_

Amazing.

And if he... Just so happened to mock how much his rival now has to bow to Tommy? Perhaps mention how much he loved his own freedom?

Irony was such a beautiful thing.

With luck, he'd push the man's buttons, make him call in that favor just for the fun of having Team Chaos back in action for a bit. Two weeks in a prison must have the former adventurer bouncing off the walls more than the parkour platforms he had _flew_ though back when they were teamed together for that one tournament.

Techno can't stop the grin spreading across his face. He can already feel his fingers itching towards the TNT and Wither Skulls.

** BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! is dream still alive? Hah he got wrecked. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! Plot armor tommy strikes again. Why in the Nether doesn't the whole server team up against Techno like that? BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!**

The Chat is divided as usual. There's a few voices in the far back that still just scream whenever they hear Dream's name, just like Tommy.

Just as annoying as the brat, too.

The voices can't stop the skip in his step as he walks past the ruined corpse of L'manburg though. The three of them truly destroyed them, and Techno had regularly visited the site after Dream had added his 'finishing touches'.

The bedrock was beautiful.

Turning his head towards the giant building in the lake that he passed by weeks ago, Techno hummed.

* * *

The platform starts pushing him forward, the sheer amount of Redstone in this place is triggering his nose, the lava adding to his paranoia.

Across the way, Dream is sitting and leaning against the opposing wall, mask on.

Barely following the pleading instructions of the jailer, Techno had already forgotten his name, he steps into the chamber and curls into himself as the lava starts flowing from behind him.

"Hello, Techno."

Dream's voice, slightly lighter than he's used to, and not particularly worse for wear.

He grins, preparing himself by shunting the Chat into the farthest corner of his mind, they always start screaming when Dream's in his view anyway.

"It's been awhile, Dream."

The masked prisoner chuckles, rolling his shoulders back before sitting forward a tad more.

"It has. Has the server been peaceful? No new idiots trying to form any governments?"

Techno pauses, having to reorganize his thoughts now to figure out the best way to bring up his own attempt at a Team Chaos pitch.

"It has." He echoes back at the prisoner, thinking before continuing, "How about in here? Just as boring as it looks?"

Dream hums, then shakes his head.

"Pretty much. It's okay, though."

"Really? Explains why you of all people are interested in _gossip_ and _chit-chat_ then, Dream."

The masked face is tilted, as if trying to understand what he's getting at.

"…I've always been interested in other people's business."

The piglin hybrid laughs.

"Is that why you got thrown in here? Oh wait, no, you got defeated by _Tommy_. How is that, by the way?"

It goes unsaid that they both know that Tommy is the one who gets too involved in other people's businesses.

"I mean, it's… Going. Like I said, boring. Not much to chat about on my end, sorry."

Techno pauses, trying to figure out whether the sheer acceptance in the human's voice is even worth mocking at the moment.

"Dream, what's your sentence?" he asks, prolonging the conversation.

Instantly, the human wheezes a small laugh.

"Forever."

All of Techno's thoughts towards mocking his rival stutter and crash down.

"Excuse me?"

Dream just leans back even more, head bumping into the wall slightly. Hand slowly reaching up, he pulls his mask off and lets it rest on his lap.

Green eyes, still alight regardless of his situation. Mouth quirked in a smirk, even as the bruises and cuts on his face tighten.

"You heard me. Got executed twice, and my last life is set to rot in here for all eternity, only coming out when they decide they need me."

Techno starts pacing, avoiding looking at the green gaze, still just as cocky as he always was.

"So, you have a plan to escape already, right? Even without my help?"

He has to be certain, because this can't be right. Dream _wasn't_ calling in his favor, but there was no way he was content to just sit in here forev-

"Nope."

The piglin hybrid swerves back towards the prisoner, mouth agape.

"HYEH?!"

Dream's cocky smirk stretches into a grin, fits of wheezing laughter slipping out and echoing through the walls.

_"HYEHHH?!"_

The human falls to the side, green sleeves clutching his ribs as he cackles and shakes.

Eventually, Techno starts pacing again, waiting and waiting for Dream to stop his laughing fit until he eventually realizes the wheezing gasps just weren't stopping, even for air.

Technoblade is experienced with people who laugh uncontrollably, though.

Swerving towards the prisoner, his hands reach out and grip Dream's shoulders before pulling him upright and beginning to shake the laughter out of the man.

"Dream! How in the Nether am I supposed to repay you if you're stuck in here forever?!" the anarchist bellows.

"HAH!- _hiss_ -Hahaha!"

Techno freezes.

Dream's laughing face has tightened, grin suddenly a grim line slightly quirked up.

Slowly, the piglin hybrid loosens his right grip and slides his hand down towards the man's wrist, pulling the sleeve back up.

A thin noodle of a human arm is revealed, and Techno's eyes narrow into a glare as Dream starts trying to pull away.

Trying and failing, utterly.

As opposed to when they last truly fought, the human before him wasn't capable of slamming him onto the ground with a shield bash. This time, Dream couldn't even push him at all.

Rising the sleeve over the shoulder he had previously clutched, an easy task as the man had clearly shrunk while his clothes had not, Techno grimaced as he saw what happened.

Several small, already purple bruises matching along where his fingers were, overlaying on a large scarred gash across his neck and shoulder.

A scar that Techno knew without doubt had not been there the last time they fought.

"Dream, why aren't you trying to get out of here?" The words come out just as dangerous as any threat he's given, and he's unsure why he feels the need for the tone.

The man doesn't answer, at first. His eyes still bright but now unfocused, glance away from his face, at something behind him, before flickering back to him.

"I… I don't need to."

It's a quiet response. Almost placid, and Techno hates how much that reminds him of the Dream who quietly threatened people with just his presence, reminding them of how in control he was, words as sharp or blunt as he needed, a tool like any other.

Because staring into the green irises, the daring but confident gaze of his rival is still unchanged. Unchallenged.

Even as his body clearly succumbs, bruising easily, muscles lost, almost certainly starving, and having lost all of his weapons, armor and tools.

The piglin hybrid _wants_ to rise up to the challenging air, try to mock and put the man off guard, but there wasn't any point. This wasn't a battle, this wasn't a fight, this wasn't...

This wasn't an argument he was going to win.

Techno slides the man down back onto the ground, slowly so as to not injure him any further, before backing away from him as if he had lingering poison arrows.

He opens the chest to the side, hoping for food and is supremely disappointed with finding nothing but books.

Techno releases a sigh, trying to figure out what he can even say in this circumstance.

"You know Dream… I was kind of _really_ hoping to come in here, laugh at you for getting killed by Tommy of all people, and then ask when Team Chaos can have some fun again."

He can see the human glance back up, eyes focusing on his form again with perfect clarity.

There's a pause, and Techno's almost certain Dream's just as bad at small talk as he is, before the prisoner sighs as well.

"…Sorry, didn't mean to ruin your fun."

Didn't mean to ruin- He just-

"I don't understand you, Dream."

Green eyes start blinking, confusion finally clear on the man's face as the piglin hybrid blurted that out.

Just as confused as Techno, hopefully. Because it's absolutely the truth. He wasn't the best at understanding people, he knew that. He's been betrayed over and over again because of his poor judge of character, because some people's goals are too inconsistent or they lie to him, or they just don't even understand what they want, and he just can't follow along with those people.

He's too simple in that regard. He understands violence, the thrill of a fight, of victory and the _struggle_.

Dream was always different though, and not necessarily in the good way like Phil.

Techno was aware that humans… change. They could slip from one motivation to the next like a bee slamming it's face into water. They could change themselves so that they could become great warriors or builders, or be so stubborn and hateful that they could sit still while their house burns down around them.

Dream, as always, was different.

The piglin hybrid never got a single sense of the man's motivation changing. He barely lied, he didn't talk enough to do so, he was absolute in the way he did things that refuted him ever giving up on whatever his goals were, and he was… kind to Technoblade.

But he was different. Every encounter, every conversation, flitting in like an enderman and then disappearing like a vex. The first time they truly met, a warrior and adventurer rising from nothing to challenge him at equal footing with only a third of the time spent training.

Their meeting in his world, his support in both sides of the conflict because he felt best as a peacemaker and kept all the violence relatively contained to one area.

Their battle at the tower( _'Not the lake, screw you Tommy'_ ), confident and teasing. Joking around with Techno as to their reasons to help Tommy, when in truth, they both just wanted to flex a little.

The coup, him having surrendered almost immediately as there wasn't a side to even mediate for anymore. Leaving him at full strength for the human to call Technoblade out for letting those absolute morons try and build a government in front of him, yet…

**_ "Dream: Never thought I'd see you bowing to tommyinnit" _ **

**_ "Technoblade: I'm not sure I like where this is going" _ **

**_ "Dream: I thought you were anti government" _ **

**_ "Technoblade: I'm not sure I like where this is going x2" _ **

…

**_ "Dream: Team Chaos?" _ **

**_ "Technoblade: Perhaps" _ **

**_ "Dream: I have your back" _ **

The memory sent his blood pumping, because it set a tone, set a reminder.

The human appearing at his house, confident as always but with an undertone of threat. The threat wasn't directed at him, though. He had walked in and mocked the constant signs of Tommyinnit, trying and failing not to wheeze laughter as Techno made excuse after excuse, lying to Dream with every breath.

And then taken his own mocking, and… And…

Made himself a joke, just for their entertainment.

'Dream's evil lair', indeed.

Technoblade well and truly could not understand Dream.

There wasn't any connection that he could trace with his constantly shifting behavior. Maybe that wasn't quite true, his motivation had stayed constant, his drive, his ability, his alliance with Techno-

That had stayed constant, actually.

From the moment he walked into the man's world, he had never been his enemy.

Even when fighting him at the war, he had been doing so partly with resources Dream himself had given him to use against the human's side.

Even though he had lied about Tommy, over and over to Dream's face when the man had been trying to tell him that he didn't even _mind_ , the masked man had thrown away all doubts as to whose side he cared for more when he had offered his hand to help destroy the corrupt nation, with the most hated man on the server… _In front_ of the entire server.

_"Techno."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Got any withers?"_

_"Oh, I'm liking where this is going, Dream."_

He had lied to the man. The man had not lied to him.

He had fought the man. The man had supported that.

But they weren't friends, because…

_"I'm the only one who hasn't betrayed you."_

_"Because… I'm not pretending to be your friend-"_

_"Exactly!"_

_..._

_"We understand that I am not your friend, alright? We have that boundary." Techno stated, pleased that the discussion had seemingly made Chat give up on arguing about Dream being kind and start focusing on blood chanting.  
_

_Dream fell silent as they moved through the tunnel towards their destination, their target._

_"...Exactly..."_

_Phil broke in, "We're here for clout!" and the two old friends broke out in laughter._

_Dream's earlier energy, the excitement that he had broken into Techno's house with in the morning, seemed to have dimmed or perhaps focused as they neared the end of their path._

Techno growled, his memories painting a picture in hindsight he wasn't sure he was proud of.

"Hey, Techno." Dream's voice wheezed out, breaking his focus and stopping his pacing.

"What?"

A grin stretched across the human face, eyes crinkling like Phil's when he's about to make a dad joke.

"Remember... How you didn't believe me, when I told you that I had a giant house?"

Techno pauses, all of his previous musing breaking apart in his mind as he realizes what's coming, seeing the man inhale a deep breath.

"Dream, please, no-" The hybrid immediately starts to beg.

"THE BIGGEST HOUSE ON THE SERVER! RIGHT HERE! I TOLD YOU SO!" Dream yells, breaking into hysterics as he slides off the wall.

Technoblade ran to the lava, trying his best to ignore his rival's mocking laughter, and began yelling.

"JAILER! Whatever-your-name-was, let me out! He's gone mad! I'm dying! Get me out of here!"

* * *

Techno stomped into his home, frustration seeped into his form as Phil chuckled upon seeing him.

"Tough day?"

"Phil... I'm going to get Dream out of the prison."

"Wait, _what_!?"

"Specifically, I am going to blow that prison up, so that Dream can be homeless again, because _this cannot stand,_ Phil, it just can't!"

Okay, he wasn't being serious, but after that conversation he needed a bit of actual levity. He had visited Dream to taunt him, not get taunted himself!

Letting loose a sigh, Techno put away his gear, grabbed a book and started to decompress. He needed to ask Phil about a lot of things, especially the man's own visit with Dream, but right now he... He needed some time away from the problem that had apparently crept its way up on his back, much like Dream himself often did. That meant not giving himself time to think about all the sudden questions he had.

_"Because… I'm not pretending to be your friend-"_

He heard Ranboo and Phil talking outside, the younger hybrid having finally put some walls around his small home. Ranboo had fought against him too, now that he thought about it, alongside the Butcher Army. He had given him his gear back though, against the wishes of his friends, almost without any pressure at all.

_"I'm not pretending to be your friend-"_

The young man had just wanted to be friendly with everyone, perhaps not understanding how he'd continuously get himself dragged into the conflict just because he wanted to help or hang out with his friends. To keep them all safe.

_"I'm not_ pretending _to be your friend."_

Sighing again, Techno bent a page as a bookmark and closed the book, slipping it back into a barrel.

Techno had a feeling that the coming days were going to continue to be stressful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. I actually planned on making the text for Techno's Chat differing colors, but for the life of me could NOT get it to actually work at all in HTML. Managed to mess with the font size somehow, but could not change a single color.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is partially me loving the potential for friendship that Dream always had with Techno, and noting how utterly fucking heartbroken Dream in canon sounded when Techno declared them completely not friends in any way.
> 
> EDIT: Finally figured out a way to sorta-fix the Color issue.


	4. Wrong Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They shared the same goals, but only one was able and willing to take the fall. Ranboo walks into the prison and Dream is happy to play the villain again.
> 
> He's less happy when his secret accomplice wakes up and demands a better ending.

The prison creaked with noise, the lava started to fall and fade as his newest visitor made themselves known.

The shifting and shaky dual-colored eyes and face froze upon meeting his mask.

_Ranboo._

Except it wasn't. Except it was. Dream wasn't truly certain if anyone could ever understand the young hybrid's nature, wasn't even certain what his other biological side was. All he knew was that he was part enderman, and that was all he needed to know.

Either way, the man shaking in front of him wasn't the one he knew best. Wasn't the one who hated being afraid and refused to look away from the truth. Instead, it was the young man who was always afraid and could only ever see in the peripheral.

He followed Sam's instructions in a sort of dazed reverie and Dream knew the beginning of an Enderwalk was already in progress.

Dream had always shared a deep understanding with the Mobs of the Overworld. The nether was more difficult, their awareness more sapient and he wasn't always certain.

Nothing had stopped him from using both to unheard of degrees back in his Manhunt days.

The way he could skirt along the edges of a Mob's attention or outright call it towards him was a talent that he had _refined._

Dolphins rushing to his rescue and leaving his pursuers, skeletons shooting back his chasers, creepers coming closer to be his makeshift TNT, enderman looking him straight in the mask and refusing to hiss or teleport away.

And Ranboo was no different once the Enderwalk began, the poor hybrid stumbling a bit as the exit closed fully behind him, before piercing Dream's vision with a focused gaze.

Dream's secret accomplice. The one who he hasn't told anyone of, not even Punz was aware of who he sometimes received his dead-drops from. Always carefully covered for when the time came, with Dream happy to take the blame at times.

Punz would be Dream's replacement for peace and negotiation, hopefully keeping a lookout and good reputation towards Tommy and the rest of the SMP. Ranboo was Dream's insurance policy, able to disappear and reappear into any social circle without problem, and perhaps the only one just as true to their cause as Dream.

The only one willing to see everyone for who they were. People.

_~~'Unlike me.'~~ _

Techno had _better_ be watching out for him. He had absolute respect for Philza and perhaps a bit of affection since the man had started visiting him almost regularly since their first talk, but he only really _knew_ Techno, and he hoped he wasn't as wrong as he's been before about the piglin hybrid's heart.

**"You promised no sides."**

Dream hadn't actually, the confused teen had thrown that conclusion at him when they first met, after he had privately questioned the young man about why he had helped burn down George's house.

Still... It wasn't a false conclusion and he was every bit interested in keeping it so.

"Are they fighting again?"

The still gaze remains, before jerking his head side to side.

**"No."**

"Then... Are you happy? Are you satisfied?"

Dream hopes he is because, memory and anxiety issues or not, the confused man had reached out to _him_ for help with their goal. Dream may not have been King, but he was still someone who helped his people. Property at L'manberg or not, crimes or not, he had invited Ranboo and the teen had never claimed to secede from the Greater Dream SMP.

He would not fail any more of his people.

**"...No. Sides still set, just settled down."**

Well, that should have been obvious. Still, he can't think of any sides that shouldn't stay settled down except for Bad and wherever that _idiot_ Quackity would end up. Both would inevitably run afoul of Technoblade.

Ah, right, his accomplice had mentioned the talk between Quackity and Tubbo. It shouldn't matter anymore, with no country and the consequences of action being so high for so little reward.

"I promise, Quackity won't be able to start anything serious without realizing how pointless it will be."

**"...There are still sides."** The pause makes Dream think that the enderman hybrid might be thankful for the promise, but he's confused as to the repeated subject.

"I... can't help with that. I gave them something to side against, gave my best effort to not have their side collapse on itself. They should all be able to live in peace now, with most of their friends being tired of war."

**"Exactly. Your side is alone."**

Oh.

"That's... sweet, Ranboo. But even if I'm alone, I'm still on the same side I've always been. Even if they don't know it, I'll help them all from in here." Dream says, haltingly. The prisoner waves his hand in the direction of his single piece of storage.

The teen's eyes narrow, before stumbling towards the chest, opening it up and picking out a book buried under the stacks.

Eyes flicker towards each page, word after word, plan after plan, all ideas and leverage necessary for the immediate future.

**"...How will this help when you're in here?"**

"I have someone else I trust, they'll be taking my place in making use of your assistance."

Punz would be in the prime position to do it, still the man who lead the absolute defeat of Dream, but also still just a mercenary who shouldn't have any harsh feelings against him. He could work in the background, deal with the dead-drops with practiced ease, and understood Dream's and Ranboo's goals better than anyone else on the server.

The head turns from the book, closing it and setting it down. Dream immediately takes it back and throws it in the lava.

While Ranboo might have extremely faulty memory when his consciousness and awareness clashed, he'd remember it for the remainder of the Enderwalk, enough to copy it down when he was outside the prison for Punz. Dream himself had perfect memory and didn't need to keep the book after writing it down and seeing it physically, even just once.

Just one more inversion between the two.

**"I'll keep doing it. It's not good enough, but it's better than nothing."**

Unable to stop himself, Dream scoffs.

"What _would_ be good enough?"

**"One big happy family."**

Dream can't help but sigh, admitting defeat in this case.

"I know, buddy. Sorry, I wish I could have done more, but... For now, at least, as far as your involvement goes... I think this is over."

The eyes narrow further before scribbling something down in a book, one of his memory books, one he had apparently been allowed to keep.

It doesn't matter to Dream, though he notes the strangeness in Sam actually bending the rules for _anyone_.

Ranboo moves to leave and alerts Sam to it via communications.

It's only just as the lava is lifting that the enderman hybrid turns back, uttering garbled words in a language Dream hasn't heard in a long time.

**"⋏⍜⏁ ⍜⎐⟒⍀ ⊬⟒⏁."**

The determined hybrid stands utterly still on the evacuation platform as the lava fades once more, head sliding back towards Dream's personal warden like an enderman who had caught someone staring at him.

Dream is left alone, once again, as the curtain of lava falls.

"Huh. Wonder if Punz can speak Ender... Nah, probably not."

Shame. Ender would be such a good code, too. Probably for the best. He wouldn't have been able to resist spamming the server communications with random words.

* * *

The clock says it's night.

His comms notice a flash of activity, Punz confirming a dead drop received and calling him a crazy dastard.

His contingencies have gone through. He has a few fail-safes in case things go wrong, but...

It's over.

He's... had a good run. It was fun, honestly had some potential to stay bearable for the near future, with Philza still coming in to trade stories, jokes, and laughs every so often.

Supposedly, he had even forced Techno to come visit a few more times, a fact which his rival no doubt regretted by now.

He had to have _somebody_ critique his singing. Sam sure as heck wasn't.

Still, despite Techno sharing some laughter over his rendition of "Bye L'manburg", Dream prefers the warrior at his home, keeping his presence best suited to protecting Ranboo and keeping his gear safe. He knows the warrior doesn't consider him a friend, a fact he's made clear and Dream will _not_ disrespect that.

_**"Your side is alone."** _

Dream exhales a sigh, blowing growing hair out of his face.

He knew that. He knew that better than anyone.

Neither George or Sapnap had visited him. It's been over a month now, Dream believes.

Years of friendship. Years of sacrifice, Dream happily trading time and perhaps skill to train alongside his best friends. Forgiving Sapnap constantly for his one-sided rivalry with him breaking out into outright rebellion. Always trying to be there for George, the mask in his prison cell being the one that they had enchanted years ago to match George's color-blindness so that they could-

Bad had visited. Dream honestly almost couldn't see the difference in the man. He was still so polite and attempting to exude so much positivity.

He still reminded Dream of the man who had formed a faction solely to help the underdogs of the server survive their brutal encounters in the wars in this world, all under the guise of power.

That man's not there anymore, though. Dream can't see the difference in the mans countenance, but his action and inaction had always showcased so much more.

_His axe, Nightmare, dug deep and heavily into his side, the ache of his shoulder and neck still screaming at his brain. He almost tries to push away, but manages to stop himself from leaving a trail of viscera before he fades._

_George was nowhere to be found. Sapnap looked on, grimly. Bad looked on, hesitantly.  
_

_Neither took a single step forward._

He had helped everyone. He had hurt everyone. He could accept this ending.

Dream hopes he doesn't have to risk changing it, even if Ranboo would prefer a better one.

Even if he'd prefer a better one.

He's not sure if his heart can take the stress, the constant risk of failure permeating every decision. The pointlessness of fighting for people who didn't care that their leader had kept the criminals away. The doubt that's suddenly burned into his soul, questioning every moment of brotherhood he shared. The hope and regret that's blossomed in new and uncontrollable ways ever since Phil told him about Tommy refusing to steal. The envy and sadness soaking his mind as he thinks of his rival and his own best friend. The almost seething anger that's regressed to an apathetic annoyance when accounting for the greedy fools.

Dream really hopes this is all he needs to do.

He doesn't want to fight anymore. He doesn't want to plot anymore. He doesn't want to be the world's punching bag anymore.

It's all he knows, though.

* * *

The world shifts, the sky rising to meet his vision as he turns.

The Walk is almost done.

He's almost done. He can rest for a bit, let his more cowardly self get back to their friends. Phil gets worried when they leave without warning and stay out this late.

Philza is a good person.

Philza also happened to spawn numerous withers into a populated city.

Except that city had all but arrested him for the crime of having a friend.

He didn't need to take it out on the homes of the ones uninvolved with the Butcher Army, though.

**_'The homes that most of the city had abandoned, all of them caring less and less for the site of so much loss.'_ **

The Walk was ending. He stumbles inside the walls, slips into the bed so that they can rise again.

It's not over, though. He has to sit and wait for them to collect themselves.

For them to _lie_ to themselves.

Recreate a different encounter with a different type of _dream_. Believe it for a short while. Find evidence to the contrary and panic at being shown evidence of more. All because they couldn't be honest with themselves, couldn't accept the consequences of wishing for things to be peaceful, for everyone to just get along. Constantly disagreeing with others for at least having the Enderstones to fight for their perceived peace, all the while doing absolutely nothing but getting dragged along into hopeless battle after battle.

All the while, unable to do anything other than sit and watch, utterly silent.

How could anyone be happy with this? Be satisfied with being forced to watch a fool stumble about and reject the truth over and over and over again? Being forced to accept that _they were the fool?!_

How could Dream accept this, when he couldn't even watch anything at all?

Unacceptable.

This wasn't over. He'll figure out how to make them accept Dream's side.

This isn't over. He'll figure out how to make himself accept Dream's side.

⋏⍜⏁ ⍜⎐⟒⍀ ⊬⟒⏁.

...

Stretching and yawning, the young hybrid gets off the cold bed. He really needs to insulate the place, his bed is practically snow!

"...Oh, hey! My inventory is clean for once!"


	5. Heartburn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream's getting used to things. Phil's still been visiting, apparently questioning what he knew about a few things. Ranboo and Techno haven't been, which makes the man worried.
> 
> Sam's been getting a tad harsher, so Dream's decided to play a prank on the stern man. The prisoner is on strike! No speaking, only communication with books!
> 
> Then Sapnap walked in, making Dream speechless for an entirely different reason.

Dream pulls out his lyric books, eyes passing by _Woe to the People of Order_ , _Roadtrip_ , and _Marionettes_ as he flips through the pages. Most of the book was just songs he heard before, lyrics written to remember and to allow guests to sing. A few of the gems in there were his own, though. He was going to need a new lyric book if he kept filling this one up. Unconsciously, he glanced towards his 'Strike Book'.

He had a 'grand idea'.

Sam had been getting more and more annoyed at the prisoner throwing his clock in the lava, the man _still_ hasn't realized that he's been doing it to indicate problems. So when the warden _took his clock,_ Dream had to make him react with a different method when the warden had forgotten to bring potatoes or a fresh source of water.

There was perhaps nothing better than watching the sheer panic in Sam's eyes as the alarms blared, the veil of lava falling and making his form visible as the lectern, previously bolted down in obsidian, now visibly stood next to the lava. Dream just sitting on his bed, hands folded beneath his chin and face a grin so wide it matched his mask.

_"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sam! That reaction time is horrible! If I had been serious, I could have escaped through a nether portal by now."_ _The prisoner shared, his disappointment vaguely hidden behind bemusement._

Okay, maybe he had deserved the glare he had received, but the giant bruise across his face from the handle of the warden's sword was a tad unnecessary. So the lectern was refitted, put back down, and crying obsidian had replaced parts of the floor. The clock was replaced.

He had also finally gotten his water set up to a redstone filtration machine! Sam had, sadly, decided to starve him a bit more literally this time and refused to give him potatoes.

Dream was getting a bit annoyed at Sam's lack of professionalism, so he had come up with his 'grand idea'.

_'Oh well,'_ Dream decided. _'it's a bit too late to be wishing I had trusted a different warden.'_

He had come up with a way to play a prank on Sam, either to try and make him lighten up or just to have some fun since he had no other choices, really.

When Sam took inventory of the prisoner, making certain he was still there and alive, and that the pieces of the equipment in the cell were still in place as well, Dream wouldn't speak up. Instead, he'd hold up a book with words written in big bold letters.

Sam took offense to that, for some reason that only the warden's ego would understand, and had repeatedly demanded him to speak until the man gave up and accepted his silence as the new norm.

The prisoner smiles, hearing the shifts and shudders of the prison moving, indicating a visitor was coming. Perhaps the guards had finally been assembled and they were ready for him to resurrect Wilbur.

Moving towards his chest, he stashed the lyric book he was writing in before bringing out his 'Strike Book'.

The lava shifted as it drained, and he looked across it to the entrance, hoping to see Phil, Ranboo or perhaps Techno.

His heart stops for a second as he gazes across and sees tussled black hair, held up slightly by a white bandana.

_'Sapnap.'_

The bridge starts crossing, and Sapnap starts looking around. Dream takes the time away from his gaze to briefly switch back to his chest, exchanging more books that he doesn't particularly want seen. Checking the clock to confirm that Sapnap had decided, finally, to visit him. The earliest he possible could in the day.

Confusion, worry and nervousness welled up inside him. Had Sapnap been trying to find time to visit him before, only for Phil and the others to take up his only daily visitor slot? Had the man actually just failed to even try to see his supposed best friend for over a month? He can't decide whether he should talk back or continue his 'act'.

He can't decide if _Sapnap_ is his friend or his foe anymore.

"Hello?... Dream?" His visitor tries to talk, confusion alone in his voice. There's a hint of fear, but no pain. No sadness.

_'No regret.'_ Dream realizes, and suddenly, he knows how to react.

Pulling the quill from the empty book, he writes down his message before showing it to Sapnap.

"I am not talking"

"Why... Why aren't you talking?" Sapnap questions, that irritating note of fear still in the back of his voice.

Dream thinks about explaining his joke, but ultimately can't gather the energy and just opens the book back up.

"I am not talking"

"Kay... Can you say anything other than 'I'm not talking'?" Sapnap replies, annoyance finally overcoming the fear for a second.

The prisoner's mouth twitches before he brings the quill back up.

"I mean, take your time if you need to." The fear is back already, and Dream can't help but write down an emotional response.

"You took so long"

Sapnap's face shifts, hesitance mixed with discomfort being written more plainly than Dream's own messages.

"Well... I don't know, man. You hurt a lot of people- You hurt... specifically, _me_."

Dream stops breathing for a second. He had hurt Sapnap? _He_ had hurt Sapnap? _HE-_

"So it... took me a little bit to decide to come and see you. I-It wasn't the easiest thing." The man continued on, excuses stumbling out of mouth with a low tone despite the stuttering.

Memories of Sapnap teaming up with Tommy to cause issues with Ponk and Alyssa, ultimately leading to Alyssa moving away after her first Core Death, flashed in Dream's mind. Memories of Sapnap and Tommy knocking him out and taking back the disks he had only taken for an apology.

"It's- It's like... I don't know, man. You're better than this." Sapnap continues, language seeming to fail the man.

Dream stays silent, turning towards the clock. Counting the time before his visiting time is over.

"...You just like to look at that clock? You don't know what to say?"

Memories of Sapnap starting the Pet Wars despite knowing how hard it was to lose a companion. Memories of Sapnap trying to support Wilbur's coup before being denied by the conman just for his accent.

He says nothing.

"...You can talk to me, ya know. Once upon a time, we were best friends."

Memories of Sapnap turning on Dream, shoving an arrow towards his face at the words of a known liar and manipulator. Memories of Sapnap joining the liar in a terrorist attack to frame an innocent man, resulting in yet another Core Death.

Memories of Dream forgiving him at every turn.

Dream takes his quill and changes the subject. There's nothing left to say to his _former best friend._

"I'm on strike"

Sapnap questions him about the reasons why, or for how long he's going to be on strike, and Dream ignores it. They're pointless questions that he knows neither of them care about.

"...Your cell is looking a little... rundown. Is it always like this?"

To that, Dream can respond.

"It was a security measure."

"Oh..."

There's a pause, before Sapnap continues.

"You should really talk to me. Even though, you've done bad things... You-You deserve to be here, but that... doesn't mean that we can't... somewhat be friends anymore."

Inhale. Exhale.

He just has to hold out and ignore the sudden feeling of rage brewing in his chest, the physical reaction feeling almost like heartburn, lasting far longer than any such emotion has stuck with him in months.

It's only when Sapnap sighs, letting out a frustrated, "Whatever," that Dream starts writing.

"This is where you've gotta be, right now."

Thin fingers peel back the book again, showing Dream's latest words.

"I'll get out one day"

Sapnap reads it and scowls, before shaking his head. "No, dude. You gotta stay here."

Dream breaths in and out again, forcing himself to calm down.

"Maybe... Maybe one day when everyone's cool with it?"

_'Tommy would never allow that. You'd never try and convince him, why would you even bring that up?'_ Dream ponders, before the reason takes root in his mind.

It's just another excuse, just another pointless sentence for Sapnap to say and feel vaguely better about himself with.

Slowly, Dream starts writing out how he forced Sam's hand to adjust his cell, trying to gauge Sapnap's reaction to him trying to get out.

"i spent days i broke the lecturn i was making a portal and he did this"

"You-You can't try and escape! I miss you hanging out with us, but this is where you belong!" Sapnap exclaims.

Dream turns away, looking at the clock again.

"I'm sorry, maybe I- I can still visit you a-and George will come and visit you. We can still be friends, but you have to stay here for now."

_'Are you just conveniently ignorant of my sentence- No, you've applied to be a guard. You_ know _I'm in here forever.'_

The prisoner turns, the clock on the wall suddenly in his hands and thrown towards the lava.

"No, no- Argh! C'mon, that's just going to make Sam mad..."

_'Good,'_ Dream thinks, _'maybe he'll take away my visiting time again.'_

"You're just making this harder on yourself! You don't have to make this more difficult than it needs to be, you're gonna stay here, and yeah, it's gonna _suck_! But... You're tough, you'll get through it!"

For a brief second, Dream thinks that they might not have _actually_ told Sapnap about his sentence. Daring to hope, he settles on an agreement.

"eventually"

That hope is immediately snuffed out, as Sapnap's face turns from hesitant to pinched and angry.

"No... You might have to sit here forever. I don't think you're leaving here."

_'Then what the fu-'_ Dream cuts his thoughts off, finally throwing the book at Sapnap.

Just more excuses. Just more lies.

Sapnap looks at the words written again before setting the book down, forcing his face into a stern glare.

"I want... I want this to be clear to you. The things you did are what got you in here. So you need to stay in here for... for however long you need to be! And if you try- If you try and break out early, Dream..."

The man who Dream had called his best friend for nearly his whole life stared hard at him, onyx eyes glinting with a bit of fear.

"You only have one life left. I don't think it's gonna be Tommy, it's not gonna be Technoblade. If you break out of this prison... It's going to be _me_ that takes your final life."

Dream stares right back, venomous green melting across flint.

Sapnap breaks away first, backing up and averting his eyes.

"I-It's not because of any resentment, it's because... This is where you need to be."

Dream turns away from the coward, picking up the book. He pulls the quill out of the spine and writes a new question as Sapnap spews more meaningless excuses.

"can you pass a message"

"To who?"

_'To literally anybody that's not a fucking waste of space, Sapnap.'_ Dream almost snaps, forcefully biting his lips shut.

He just needs a distraction, anything to get this person away from him.

Like clockwork, his mind drifts towards his favorite distraction, Punz, before shifting away. There's a better approach, one that's far less risky and would actually have a benefit.

"he stopped visiting"

Sapnap looked at the page, suspicion and confusion back on his face.

"Who stopped visiting you? Y-You can tell me. You can still trust me."

_'Wow, and I thought George was the bad liar.'_

"ranboo"

Dream sees the suspicion fade into abject confusion, Sapnap switching from angry to confused like a particularly dumb wolf.

"A message to Ranboo? Okay... What message?"

Dream turns the page and writes down a sideways approximation of his mask's smile.

" :) "

"J-Just a smile? I... I mean, I guess if you really want me to. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me."

Dream writes off a fake thanks and turns away, his good mood from the morning gone.

Sapnap tries to force a compromise out of him, this message and a visit from George for his 'good behavior'.

The prisoner sighs. He can't even tell if Sapnap is doing this out of his one-sided rivalry turned resentment or because he valued his new _job_ more than his former best friend.

Frankly, he's not sure he even cares anymore.

Dream just starts agreeing, acting on autopilot.

This entire meeting was nothing but lies and pain. This entire plan was nothing but lies and pain.

Dream wonders if this entire friendship was nothing but lies and pain.

It's only when the room is empty that he turns back towards the chest, finding a lyric book and starts writing, trying to find some way to distract himself.

_'They were left a shattered soul,_

_Always felt less than whole.'_

* * *

Taking in a deep breath of the morning air, Technoblade lifted his arms and stretched. To his left, he could see Ranboo was rushing around his shack for something. He can hear Phil moving books in the house, muttering about redstone. Much better than they both were earlier, when he woke up to a loud bang and saw the two cackling nervously at the front door about something.

He had gone back to sleep, only vaguely acknowledging that he had fell asleep next to his villagers and in a pile of redstone notes, again.

Today, he decided, he was going to focus on something other than Dream and his... plan.

Dream didn't want his help in escaping from the prison, fine. He could still... study the layout a bit, maybe keep it in mind if he ever wanted to blow it up for a completely unrelated reason later.

If Phil and he just so happen to be sucked into a redstone fad again, gathering books and notes on the subject and poring over them without a word on what for, well, that was their business.

Actually, maybe he should say it was for a farm. Plausible deniability was one thing, but keeping the Chat from screeching about him _possibly_ getting Dream out of the prison was an entirely different thing. They couldn't read his mind, surprisingly, but that didn't mean they couldn't interpret everything he did as something to mock and rage about.

Either way, he wasn't going to focus on that project for now. They needed new allies.

Not friends, he assures himself. Just people who didn't want to suffer through an oppressive government again. He's going to have to have Phil help him out more on the communication aspect of his big idea, because he refuses to let what happened last time happen again.

_"That's gonna be a bit of a problem, Dream." He stated, confidently stepping in front of the shaking teen.  
_

_"Because this guy is with me."_

_The masked man's movement is unchanged, uncaring of the threat as always. Techno can see the slight tilt of his head, though, as it turns towards him and a tone comes through that he can't decipher, can barely even hear under the passive muttering through the mask._

_"Hmm... Are you sure, Techno?"  
_

_..._

_"As long as you're sure..." The tone is back again, even as Dream moves forward to leave, keeping on Techno's side as opposed to getting closer to Tommy._

He tries not to laugh at his past self. So certain that Tommy was with him, that Dream would fight him for the teen.

He tries not to curse at his past self. So certain Dream had been asking if he was certain in _his_ loyalty and not that of the person he had protected.

He hopes Phil agrees with his plan, because he's not sure how to _be sure_ , anymore. Phil's much better at trusting people and being trusted in turn.

It takes some discussing, and Techno is once again thankful for Phil as he easily agrees with his plan. They ready themselves to explore the abandoned ruins Techno had spotted near their home.

It's only upon setting out, that Techno realizes he desperately needs some ink and a quill. They backtrack, search their house top to bottom, only to realize there wasn't any chickens in the arctic.

Ranboo, thankfully, ~~had~~ 'offered' a feather to Phil.

Techno laughed, realizing that perhaps Tommy and Wilbur had indeed gotten some of their antics from the man.

"Okay, got a quick question," Ranboo brought up, "am I getting kicked out?"

He blinked, before looking towards Phil and finding the man looking back to him with a confused smile.

"No." "No!" They both reply, with some shocked delay in Phil's voice.

The piglin hybrid continues on, "You can stay here, for now."

Phil calms down and repeats Techno, trying to make certain there's no misunderstanding.

Ranboo nods, his eyes shifting back and forth nervously, none of the slight panic in his body language fading.

"Alright, also! I have, uh, one more thing that... may actually get me kicked out, so c-can I tell you guys about that, real fast?"

Techno blinks again, confused. He turns towards Phil to see the man looking at Ranboo with worry. Shaking his head, he motions for Ranboo to go on.

"Okay, so um... So I randomly have periods of time where I... don't remember things that I do." The younger hybrid starts, his jaw starting to stretch into a bit of a tightened grin.

"So, uh, you know, you remember the old Community House and everything?" Ranboo fishes, eyes tightening even as both Phil and he reply positively.

"I kinda... was... the one that blew that up."

Both their eyes were widened, jaws hung open.

"A-Are you sure?" Phil asks, and Techno snaps his jaw shut, remembering another man that had asked that question.

Ranboo nods his head, eyes squinted shut. "...Yeah..."

"Okay, okay... But _why_?" Techno asks, trying to figure out why the man thinks this would get him kicked out.

"I... can't remember _why_... but I'm fairly certain that I did that."

They chat a bit more, but Techno simply assures the man that he doesn't care about the community house, or that Ranboo had a music disk. Phil pitches in, making Ranboo know it's not just the violent piglin saying those words.

Ranboo was a good kid, but he was certainly a weird one. Techno hopes he doesn't turn out like Tommy, an easy hope that slowly becomes more certain as they interact more. Frankly, the kid kinda reminds him of Dream more, the Dream he had fought alongside with when they were Off-World.

Phil grabs some more food, and they prepare to leave again, this time certain that they were ready to establish the secret base of their new group of anarchists!

* * *

"He, uh... He wanted me to pass you a message. It was a really simple message, so I don't see an issue with it."

Ranboo nodded, his mind alight and sluggish as he tried to think of what he should do here.

Sapnap pulled up his communications as the thin screen hovered over his forearm and began tapping across it.

"I think it was just this..."

Ranboo saw saw the flash across his lower vision as the message popped up on his own communications, the screen appearing without him even trying to open it.

_**Sapnap whispers to you: :)** _

The floor falls out from under him.

It's only as he pulls his vision up, eyes wide at Sapnap's confused and worried face, that he realizes he didn't actually fall.

A wide smile stretches across his face, and he's certain it's reminiscent of the man who sent the message.

Immediately, he walks away, uncaring of Sapnap's confused words trying to reach him and unconcerned with being polite to him.

He never liked Sapnap, anyway. Too eager to start conflict, too eager to switch sides, too _bloodthirsty_.

If someone who lives next to Technoblade thinks that about someone, there's a problem.

He shifts from walking to running as the Walk begins, smile stretching farther than what was possible for people who weren't related to enderman.

Ranboo can't help but let laughter spill out from him.

No matter how much they block out the truth, it'll always catch up to them eventually. Even as his weaker self accepted his actions, they had both helped cover it up.

He had been sleeping, trying to think and find a way to make certain that Dream would be allowed out. Dream was always the mastermind, he was just one more means to help make their plans reality.

It was long past time for someone else to try and plan.

He had finally found one, too! He just needed to get a bit more info on the prison, maybe some more on redstone. They could even make a farm, for practice and an excuse.

Phil and Techno, they had books and librarian villagers. They'll have to ask them.

He slows his run down as his energy runs low, still panting out laughter. He can't help it!

They had such good choice in friends! Tommy was trying to get Techno and Phil to come to his hotel, that would be the perfect time to figure out when the teen would be going to the prison next.

He could enact the plan then.

After all, Dream had managed to make the teen behave with only visits before. Dream was convincing, right? Everyone else agreed with that, at least, so they hoped so.

He could definitely convince Tommy if he was trapped in a room with the teen for a week!

There wouldn't be anywhere for Dream to hide, nowhere for Tommy to find allies to rally behind. They'd _have_ to get along eventually!

It was the perfect plan!

He lets out the message across the server's general comms, eager to let Dream know his situation as well as promise some further contact.

_**Ranboo: ⎅⍜⍜⋔⟒⎅ ⏃⍀⟒ ⏁⊑⍜⌇⟒ ⍙⊑⍜ ⏁⍀⊬ ⏁⍜ ⍀⎍⋏, ⎎⍜⍀ ⟟⏁ ⏃⌰⍙⏃⊬⌇ ☊⏃⏁☊⊑⟒⌇ ⎍⌿ ⟒⎐⟒⋏⏁⎍⏃⌰⌰⊬ :)** _

He laughs as Punz' "HUH" comes through a moment later, before dismissing the comms.

So much to do, so little time to make sure they both understand what they need to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was originally gonna be an omake about an entirely different visitor that wouldn't actually be canon.
> 
> Then I decided that was a horrible place to put it, and honestly, I couldn't really get it written down to a level I found satisfying.
> 
> It's a slow chapter, still mainly just explaining the thoughts and emotions of people during canon, setting things up in motion for an eventual complete break from it. And of course, setting some small hints at differences and oddities.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not gonna be able to promise any sort of schedule anytime soon, as I now have to work overtime for the next month. Hope I can get something out, but hey, we'll see.


	6. Backfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best laid plans of boys and endermen often go awry.
> 
> Everyone left behind is forced to move on, however they may.

Dream gets up from the floor, his 'bed' having been removed during the renovations to prevent his 'escape attempt'.

The man stretches and feels the cracking of his joints pulse with pain. Today wasn't going to be fun, he's certain.

At least Sam's finally been giving him food again, he's fixed the automated system to drop food in periodically. Only to cause Dream more worry when he realizes he's starting to get used to starvation, some of the potatoes starting to accumulate as his hunger wanes quickly.

Just one more reason why this cell wasn't made to have someone be trapped in for this long.

Walking over to the chest, he picks up a book and starts glancing over what his latest lyrics had been. _Memory_ , _Dream On_ , _I'm Not Okay_ , _Hallelujah (I'm Not Dead)_ , and... Oh, his next original.

_'Still need a name for that. Maybe Phil could help me there. Techno would just plug his fans art servers or something.'_

Ranboo hadn't been visiting, the young hybrid had briefly informed him of the reason with some shorthand over private comms. Apparently, Sam had banned him for failure to comply with paperwork.

Dream wishes he could use comms, make a joke about the man in the suit being unable to file taxes, but Sam had burnt his fingertips slightly before shoving him in. He couldn't unlock the messaging screen, only receive them.

That had NOT been in his suggested plans during the making of the prison. Technically, he's rather certain it's not permanent and dipping his hands into healing potion could probably fix it instantly, but the sheer barbarism is a bit too crude for Dream's tastes.

Sighing, Dream pulls the quill from the spine of the book, beginning his now daily routine of recording lyrics of songs. He'll get back to his new original later, maybe with Phil.

* * *

Phil was having an okay day. Nothing too strange was happening at the Commune, something he was thankful for considering their previous adventure was still weighing on his mind.

_'Dreamexde, or was it Dream X.D? Either way, what the Nether was up with that?'_ Phil can't help but ponder.

Techno had stopped caring pretty fast, as usual. He had been guarded towards the entity when it swept in through the wall like a vex, and had demanded their reasoning for being there. Once it had left he had mocked it's resemblance to Dream, as though he hadn't been gripping a glowing golden orb of enchantment, a valuable treasure he had apparently stolen from a woodland mansion alongside Ranboo.

Phil wasn't certain what Techno thought at times, he had been more guarded against that being than he had ever seen him in this World.

No, his own concern was more prevalent at the time. Seeing what looked like a marble version of _Dream's_ _face_ with the lines of a strange version of his mask overlaying it on a flying being had been a tad too disturbing for the human. The way he wore Dream's clothes, statuesque and refitted as robes, the glowing rings intersecting over his head had felt like something Philza had touched upon long ago, a hint of Divinity.

They had gotten permission to use the place after the floating creature kicked the strange blocks they had been standing near, turning them somehow.

Techno was more preoccupied with his studies, some of his notes having gone missing before being returned with the Prison's blueprints and layout. The two of them had been extremely confused and vaguely worried, before continuing as if they didn't have anything to do with it.

_"This will help with my new Phantom Farm, Phil! Totally what this is gonna be used for, I just want more of those Slow Fall potions, I loved the freedom I got when I was basically flying during that last fight."_

The piglin hybrid had been very adamant on that. The fact that there had yet to be a single Redstone experiment physically put down had been left unmentioned, and Phil had left his best friend to his work.

The human had been too busy focusing on his older documents and journals, history and legends of some of the older servers and his exploits as an adventurer.

"This player dreamed of sunlight and trees. Of fire and water. It dreamed it created. And it dreamed it destroyed. It dreamed it hunted, and was hunted. It dreamed of shelter."

...

"They used to hear voices. Before players could read. Back in the days when those who did not play called the players witches, and warlocks. And players dreamed they flew through the air, on sticks powered by demons."

...

"They were called the spirit of the mountain. Father sun, mother moon. Ancestral spirits, animal spirits. Jinn. Ghosts. The green man. Then gods, demons. Angels. Poltergeists. Aliens, extraterrestrials. Leptons, quarks. We know them today as the Dual Gods."

So many different ideas, some referring to Ancient Magics, some referring to past Divinity.

He can see the connections he had once scoffed at and ignored, see how they've taken root in his new reality.

BadBoyHalo, a man he had very little knowledge of before recently, a demon who had seemingly been accepted by humanity.

Technoblade, Acolyte and Warrior of the Blood God. Originated from the times of the hybrid magic experimentation and _heard voices._

References to dreams long before their Dream had been born. And of course, 'The green man.'

Phil had met the Dual Gods only a few times before. Had only stepped through the inky black void to their dimension through the Shrine Worlds where it was easy to quickly and quietly make offerings.

He understood that that was how offerings were made, how some people were Blessed with the Seed of a new World or great knowledge. Techno had joined and host Tournaments, Rituals of Power, their victories gifted to the Dual Gods as offerings. He had been given several small Seeds, not quite Core Seeds but still good enough to exist in for a calm life. They had been put to use to feed and shelter his fans, his worshipers.

Temples made in his name, in the name of the Blood God. Art, stories, chronicles, statues, all forged in his honor.

Dream had somehow gone beyond that and received a Core Seed. No one knew how such things were done, no one knew what was involved in the making of a Core World beyond that. All anyone knew about Dream's particular brand of offerings was that he did Ritual Hunts, and they pleased the Dual Gods greatly.

Sighing, he put away the notes, huddling slightly into his clothes.

Phil would just have to ask Dream directly about what he knew of the creature. Perhaps he'd ask exactly what Dream had offered to the Dual Gods, no matter how rude such a thing was considered.

It was either that or have him be constantly distracted when he could be helping Techno figure out a way to blow that damnable Prison down to bedrock.

Climbing down the ladder, he pauses to make sure Steve is still safe, happy that Techno has been taking him on more walks recently.

_'Even if it is just to annoy Bad and clear up that Egg thing.'_ Phil mused.

Shrugging the thought off, Phil continues out of the house and makes his way towards the Nether portal.

It's long past time for a visit to Dream, anyway.

* * *

The plan was set. He hadn't needed to await Tommy's hotel business with the boy's loud mouth, all the better for this.

Infiltration was difficult, he could not teleport. He did, however, have access to a good amount of invisibility potions and the planning of two of the smartest people on the server.

Techno was amazing, his brutish skills and appearance only hiding the absolute refined civility and knowledge the warrior used to prepare himself. Phil was apparently a greater hand at correcting the fine details, but Techno himself had his handwriting all over the stacks of books he had already begun writing for their knowledge of the Prison.

Even his more pathetic self had been unable to stop themselves from contributing to the masterful collection of info, small helpful details on Redstone put in the binders.

They couldn't leave it there, the feeling of working together, even if in secret, had been everything they both loved. It had been perhaps their easiest Enderwalk to take the best friends notes and improve them with a first hand scouting.

The feeling of pride, that they could contribute to those two, that they could still **_help their friends..._**

Ranboo smiled.

He heard the echo of footsteps, Tommy, he thought at first. He couldn't make out the voices at the moment.

It didn't matter, he'd be able to completely confirm before he sprung his plan.

It would be so very ironic, too. Ranboo couldn't run from his failures, so why did Tommy think that _he_ could? That the man whose life he had basically ruined and entrapped would find his 'last visit' at all important?

He didn't understand. He just couldn't understand.

The young hybrid kept smiling though, as he understood that he didn't need to.

Looking at the inner machinations of Redstone inside the Prison, Ranboo laid out the TNT carefully.

He just needed Tommy and Dream to understand each other.

He knew how to make that happen.

* * *

Dream paused as he counted his potatoes, the spuds starting to pile in his inventory.

He thinks he vaguely hears the shifting of the Prison, but it's unusually quiet. Almost a tapping behind him, rather than pistons in front of the cell.

Then the sounds gets louder, starting to resemble what he's more used to. The signal that he's got a visitor.

The lava starts parting as he collects his books and as the veil falls completely, he's back in the center of the cell, looking across the way to the entrance zone.

A dirty young teen, blonde hair mangled into a birds nest, stares back.

Dream heaves a sigh, wishing he could use his mask, but he left it underneath some of the books in his chest since the crying obsidian had started staining it.

The pathway starts moving forward, and in no time at all, the teen is at the cell entrance platform.

Dream considers how he should act, deciding on bored and sad prisoner rather quickly. It'd get the annoying teen away from him relatively fast.

"Hello?"

The prisoner greets the teen back, getting slowly dragged into tortuously slow small talk that he mostly responds to in auto-pilot.

Tommy brings up a long winded explanation for how he's not going to come here again, and how Dream should tell him all he wants to tell him since this is the last time they'll ever meet.

Dream wonders if Tommy even realized in his self-important pep talk that Dream will still have to see him whenever the foolish young boy dies, still needing Dream to fix his mistakes.

There's not much to discuss with the teen, he notes. Dream wonders if Tommy will ever realize that for all that Dream pretended Tommy was important to him, he can't muster up the care for casual conversation with the teen.

His 'Designated Hero' tries to be dramatic and demands a final farewell.

He, the Villain, simply questions 'Why?'

_'Truly,'_ Dream bemuses, _'this is the epilogue of the greatest story ever told, the Hero ranting about his self-importance at an uncaring man who surrendered.'_

The green eyed man looks around, his attention fleeting.

"This is like Exile, Dream. You had this coming."

Dream sighs and can't help but note, "Exile wasn't too bad, ya know?"

It should make him happy to see his 'Designated Hero' rear back like an angry alley cat, hissing and sputtering.

All it does is make him disappointed.

"YOU THREW MY SHIT INTO A HOLE! I CAN'T GO NEAR PLAINS BIOMES WITHOUT GETTING A LITTLE TREMBLE IN THE FINGERS!" Tommy explodes, face scorching red.

_'You had armor and weapons to throw. I don't. You chose the plains. I didn't confine you there. Still not as bad.'_ Dream thinks, but knows better than to rationalize out loud.

Tommy and rational thought doesn't mix well. Oh, he's talking again.

"YOU don't make me a good person. You make me bad, alright Dream? All the shit that's happened has been because of you!"

_'Says the person who tried to reignite a war by burning my best friends home, over a vinyl disk. Totally because of me. You're totally a good person without me, and not a wretched piece of sh-'_ Dream cuts off the thought, knowing that it's pointless to think about.

He gets back into character, shortening his answers and watching with dispassionate eyes as Tommy yells and self-aggrandizes. Eventually, he starts pretending he's sad.

_'Because once Tommy thinks he's made me sad by leaving forever, he'll actually fucking leave. Good riddance to utter garbage.'_

"Y-You're a loser. Because you... lost. Bitch." Tommy pants out, eyes dilating as his rage finally starts leaving him, running out of steam for now.

Dream wonders if he's getting as much of a kick out of this as he used to whenever he made himself a nuisance.

The 'villain' doubts it.

"I'm done. It wasn't an honor knowing you, Dream, but it will be an honor to forget you."

The prisoner watches the dirty teen walk towards the entrance platform, surprised by a part of him still wants to shove the boy face first into lava.

The part dies and fades away as rationalization comes back, as he'd have to bring the idiot back to life and be stuck with his company for far longer.

It's better this way, him never taking up Dream's time again, and Tommy... finding someone or something else to blame all his problems on, whenever he eventually fucks things up for everyone he knows again.

Suddenly, a series of resounding explosions rocks the top of the cell. Drops from the crying obsidian slam down like a burst of rain.

Tommy freezes before turning towards him.

"What the fuck was that?"

Dream hums, blinking his eyes a bit to get rid of the sudden veil of _red_ , anger at the universe itself trying to prolong his suffering.

"Sounds like TNT."

His 'Designated Hero' starts panicking, rushing back towards the entrance to yell for Sam.

The constant barrage of explosions continuing, Dream holds his ears closed as the teen's yelling gets louder.

"He would have heard you the first ten times, Tommy! He's not there."

"What the fuck is going on!" Tommy yells.

Sighing, Dream backs up and sits next to the cauldron. Tommy eventually stops yelling, and backs up as well.

"You're gonna be stuck in here for awhile, Tommy." Dream relents, trying to get the teen to stop hyperventilating.

"W-what do you mean, why would I be stuck in here?"

The prisoner narrows his eyes, mind already bringing up the exact details of the contracts he had presented to Sam.

"I know that you signed some books to get in here, because I was the one who made them. If you're in here while a security breech is happening, you could be stuck in here for up to a week."

Tommy stares at him, eyes dilated and mouth agape.

Dream takes more pity on the claustrophobic teen, rolling some potatoes across the floor to him.

"How many potatoes do you hav-, no, what do you mean, ergh!"

"I have a bit, but..." Probably not enough for two people for a week.

Tommy starts mumbling, looking at the potatoes as Dream turns and stares above.

Dream is thinking, gauging distance of sound, crisp memories of blueprints in his mind.

_'Distance roughly 60 blocks up, purpose of location, redstone targeting prison's main do-'_

"What's going on!? Tell me, Dream!"

"I don't know! How would I-" He tries to question, before being interrupted.

A force slams into the side of his head, fist carrying a potato as Tommy punches him.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Dream lets the violent teen explode, just staring at him as word vomit retches itself from his mouth.

"You know, you have to know.... Y-You're trying to get out."

"I'm not trying to get out." Dream sighs, his act partially falling.

_'If I was, I'd have just killed you and demanded to be let out to revive you.'_

Of course, no one cares what he _could_ have done, only what they could blame him for.

"Go, go on, yell for Sam. Plead." Dream continues, switching from his prisoner act to his director one, watching as people played their scripts.

Tommy takes his advice, as usual when the boy has no direction for his turbulent emotions.

"Sam?..."

No response is given. Nobody comes.

The teen sighs, turning back towards Dream, accusation and rallying rage still faintly in his eyes.

Dream stares back, unsure of what to do.

This wasn't part of his plan.

* * *

Phil walked back through the Nether.

He's a tad worried and confused, not by the ghast that turns away from him like it does all other times Techno and he crossed this path, but by Sam telling him to go back home.

Apparently, one could _schedule_ a prison visit, and so he couldn't visit Dream today.

Because _Tommy_ was visiting Dream today.

Sam had told him not to worry about it.

Because this would be Tommy's _last visit_ to Dream.

As usual, Phil isn't sure what to think or feel when it comes to Tommy.

He was somewhat adopted into their little family at a young age, when he had been mostly done with Wilbur's education.

They'd never been very close. Not like Wilbur, who had picked up the young angry child off the street and basically demanded him to sit at their table and enjoy dinner with them.

He's not sure what to think.

All he knows is that today went from okay, to not okay.

Phil sighs, his communications blowing up as Tommy spams the server chat with calls for Sam.

A brief note of worry wiggles his way into his mind, doubt that Dream is doing something terrible to the boy, before reality asserts itself.

Dream's practically a skeleton. Nothing he could do could last this long for the boy, so it's probably just Tommy being melodramatic, as was his default setting.

Phil exits the Nether, taking in a good long breath of the crisp arctic air.

Continuing his walk back home, he ignores his comms as he takes in the nature around their location.

It's a beautiful landscape of white, small hills jutting out and giving them cover as trees grow in clusters. Phil smiles as he sees a rabbit run by.

The man nears their home, taking a quick stop to check on Ranboo, though the young hybrid seems to be out.

Shrugging, Phil walks into the house Techno and he shared, chuckling as he sees the man took a break from his studying to make dinner.

The piglin hybrid smiles back from his seat, splaying out a hand towards the opposite seat.

A bowl already laid out for him.

"So... Tommy's stuck in the Prison for now." Techno opens up, smile turning into a smirk.

"Wait, what?! Hah!" Phil can't help but laugh, pulling his comms back up to see Sam's message.

_ **< awesamdude> You're going to have to hang tight Tommy. The prison is on lockdown. There has been a security issue.** _

_ **< TommyInnit> WHAT?!** _

_ **< TommyInnit> WHAT?!** _

_ **< TommyInnit> WHAT?!** _

_ **< TommyInnit> WHAT?!** _

"There's gotta be a joke about irony in here somewhere." Techno continues, both of them remembering the documents they had to sign to visit Dream.

Phil grins, a certain edge to it that makes Techno put his bowl down and start backing away.

"Guess Tommy's really 'Innit' now, ain't he?"

"PHIL, WHY?!"

The two best friends laugh, finishing up their meal and talking about what they each discovered.

Phil's washing his bowl and calling for Techno to bring his when he hears a clatter.

Raising an eyebrow with his smile still on his face, Phil looks back to see Techno frozen solid.

Face suddenly ashen pink, eyes wide. The arm he was holding his bowl, now held up with the communications screen open and the bowl on the floor.

"Techno?..."

The eyes look up, and Phil sees pain and confusion, before throwing his hands down, flicking water off them as he closes the distance.

Catching the piglin hybrid in a half hug, Philza looks at the screen to see what shook him.

Before falling limp against his best friend as the words etch themselves into his brain.

_**Dream **tried to swim in lava to escape** TommyInnit** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof, this chapter is the primary divergence that I've been planning since the start of this story.
> 
> Next chapter is about to be a lot more perspectives, and it's going to be wild.
> 
> Hoped y'all enjoyed the slight peak into this universe's explanation of Servers and the End Poem. And y'know, the rest of it too.


	7. Mourning Will Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death affects all in different ways. All the more so when so much is left unsaid and undone.
> 
> The world moves on, regardless of tears. The world moves on, regardless of fears.
> 
> People, however, may choose not to. They may run, they may lie, they may cry, but in the end, it's just another difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, is the only one that features no Dream. Even the Techno-centric chapter focused greatly on his own interactions with Dream, and in the following chapters the perspectives shifted but their focus was all somewhat linked.
> 
> This chapter is perhaps more linked, but their link is missing all the same.

Chat screamed, but he could not hear them.

The blood in his veins, raged against his ears.

_**bump bump bump bump** _

Blood, he wanted blood. Not the voices. Technoblade wanted blood.

_**bump bump bump bump** _

Anything to drown out his thoughts right now. Anything to keep drowning out the voices, no doubt _celebrating_ right now.

Phil was pushing his arm down, positioning himself in front of him mid-hug. Techno could see his sworn brother's lips moving, but could not hear.

_**bump! bump! bump! bump!** _

  
Techno wanted blood. He wanted Blood. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! ANYTHING AT ALL RIGHT NO-

Blood filled his mouth, Phil's forehead slamming against his cheek.

Sound burst into his awareness, the heavy breaths both of them let out, the light snow tapping against his window, the sound of villagers lightly moving paper downstairs.

"...Hah, heh. Scared me for a bit there. Mind, heh, letting me go now?" Phil panted out, eyes wincing even as he smiled.

Techno looked down and saw that at some point, he had gripped the human's wrists, twisting them to the side. Letting go immediately, he steps back and starts pacing.

Guilt fills him, for so many things. He hadn't ever repaid the debt he owed Dream, he hadn't ever settled things with the man who he had called his rival, he had hurt Phil, he had worried Phil, he had-

He had done so many things wrong.

Now, there was nothing he could do to right them.

No, there was still something. One small thing he could do.

"...Phil, I'm so sorry." Techno bowed, head turned away from the human.

Shaking his head and hands, the human let loose an uneasy chuckle.

"It's... okay, Techno. It will be, at least."

The piglin hybrid wasn't sure any part of that sentence was true. It certainly didn't feel true.

"...Phil, I want to destroy the Prison."

Silence fills the room. Techno can vaguely hear his Chat, but they're so distant and insignificant right now.

It's the opposite of when the Butcher Army came to him. They threatened him, so he attacked, the voices rising in crescendo to accompany his violence. That was how things always happened.

This wasn't anything like a threat. It was like a wound, somehow already festering and he had nothing to cure it. It was worse, for there was no cure. It was a life lost, and he had been too late with his Totem, except even that analogy felt weak.

He suddenly realizes he can't even imagine what it'd be like to lose Phil, if this is what it feels like to lose his rival.

"...You can't."

Techno's heart thuds faster again, and he forces himself to calm down. He takes a breath, narrows his eyes to focus on every detail he can of his best friend.

"Why-"

"You know why."

The blonde hair frames his face, just barely resting above sorrowful blue eyes. So unlike Tommy's which were tinted with things left unsaid but oiled with pride. Phil's were sorrowful and red, without any pride or strength in his form.

There was no pretending, no facade of heroism, just two people in pain who understood one another.

At Techno's silence, Phil continued.

"It... He was fine with conflict when it had a goal. A lesson. Not just revenge, Techno."

"...I can make Tommy learn a lot of things with my sword, Phil."

The eyes still pinning his own, blonde hair shuffling as the man shakes his head.

"No more meaningless death, that's what he wanted."

His fingers curl into a fist, blood being torn from his palm.

Meaningless? Would revenge for another death be meaningless to Dream?

He doesn't know. He never asked.

He never asked Dream a lot of things.

Now, he never would.

Phil approaches and grabs his hands, shaking his head again in rebuke. Putting them on top of each other, he pulls one of his own back to bring out a red potion.

Splashing Regen on them both, Phil slowly lets go of his best friend.

Turning slightly, making sure not to ball his hands into fists again, Techno walks away, grabbing some potions from a nearby chest.

He can feel Phil's gaze on his back, no doubt wearing the same expression.

Arriving at the front door, he pauses.

"I'm going out. I'll be back. And..."

Phil shoves an object onto his crown, and he sighs as he repositions it. His hand comes down, eyes crinkling as he sees a Totem now in his fingers.

"Stay safe."

Techno smiles. It's a bloody smile, literally and metaphorically at the moment, but it's angry and happy and thankful and true all the same.

"...Thank you, Phil."

The cold buffets him as he leaves his home, the sensation always an oddity to the Nether-raised warrior, now an echoing resonance for his feelings.

He feels cold. He felt cold in his home. He felt cold in the taiga. He felt cold as he crossed into the nether. He felt cold as he made his way towards a fortress.

He felt cold as he raised his sword against a wither skeleton.

He felt warm when he was withered.

He felt warm when he managed to tear a skull from a skeleton before it faded away.

He felt warm when he finally returned home after running out of food, dropping a whole stack of skulls into his ender chest.

Maybe he'd never use them. Honestly, he genuinely doesn't know. The last time he collected this many, it had just been a hobby, a way to calm the Chat while he was in retirement.

This time, he hadn't done it to calm Chat. He just... He wanted to hurt.

Fighting and destruction was the only way he knew how to, though.

Even to let himself be hurt.

* * *

Ranboo ran. The prison was just behind them now, their invisibility potion starting to run out.

He had been smiling, just a moment before.

**Smiling**. Like. A. _Fool._

_**Dream **tried to swim in lava to escape** TommyInnit** _

How perfectly ironic.

They pant, their breathing uneven. There's nothing to say, nothing to do, and yet...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA **AAAAAAAAHHHHH** **H** **H** **H** **H** **H** **H** **H** **H** **H** **!**! **!**! **!** **!**! **!**! **!** "

They scream, they **scream** , until they run out of breath altogether.

_'This couldn't be happening.'_

This had happened. It was all **their fault**.

**They were idiots.** They were complete fools. **They were useless** , they hurt everyone around them, **they were incapable of helping a single person** , they were wort-

"...over there!"

The sound of a voice, they can't recognize it in their frenzied haste.

_' **No,** no, **no**.' _they rejected, scrambling backwards, reaching for an invisibility potion again.

They dragged it out with too much force and watched it shatter across the hill.

_' **Useless,** worthless, **we'll be caught** , we'll be killed, they'll see the TNT after our deaths, **they'll put US IN THERE!** '_ They panic, trying to search for another only to realize it was their last one after the operation.

They look around, always search their environment for things to use, to hide, just like Dream and Techno did!

There's nothing, though. Just grass, lake, and far away distant wood paths.

There was nothing in the darkness except himself, and the voice arriving from the distant paths, a lone torch being carried.

**They wouldn't be caught,** h-he wouldn't!

Hands still shaking, they pull out the TNT.

Slamming it unto the ground, they pull out a lever they had broken with water inside the Prison.

They wouldn't be caught. **No matter what.** One life or freedom, **it wasn't an impossible choice to make.**

Setting the Redstone made lever next to the TNT, **they** try force their hands to grip it.

Slamming **their** eyes shut, **they** grip and PULL-

**_Hssss!_ **

**This is it** , this is fine, this is-

**THEIR GEAR!** IDENTIFICATION!

Scrambling to throw off the helmet, **they** try pulling off **their** pants before **their** boots, the TNT converging and expanding and-

**They** fall back-

-Fall onto a wood path, hearing an explosion in the distance.

Blinking **their** eyes open, **their** vision dazed, Ranboo looks up.

The prison is farther, he's at the wood path leading to the Crater.

There's a figure bathed in light in the distance still, but this time they're moving away from him, towards where-

Where **they were** , a hole in the dirt formed by a blast of TNT.

Picking himself up, he runs. He runs, and runs, and runs, and-

He can't remember why he was running. He can't remember why he was crying.

WHY CAN'T HE REMEMBER?!

* * *

Niki sat on the ground, upon a hill near Hbomb's new home.

She had just been visiting her only friend and pondering about what it meant for her that her only friend was someone who had given up on the rest of the people.

Hbomb was a nice person, someone who refused to forget her existence. Every couple of days, she'd get a message from him over comms, inviting her to visit.

He was her only friend left, the only one she could actually _be_ friends with anymore.

The girl sighed.

_"I don't want to be friends with any of them again. Have you seen them!" she cried, mind on the gathered crew of people who would follow Tommy into hell to keep the stupid boy from lighting his own shoes on fire._

Standing up, she started on her walk back to her home. Maybe Jack would be up to one more 'attempt' at Tommy's life.

Their attempts were pathetic, of course. There was a reason why Puffy hadn't actually forced her to stop.

There just wasn't much of a point with killing Tommy, as much as she hated to admit it. It wasn't permanent, because Dream had a revive book. Dream who, for some unknown reason, had only recently become _obsessed_ with Tommy, had the means to just bring the boy back from the dead even if she were to slit the boy's throat.

Naturally, that made her participation less spirited. Their threats amounted to a weekly _joke_.

So Puffy, her old best friend and proclaimed protector of children, didn't stop her. She didn't help her either, obviously. She just... avoided her.

Just like everyone else did.

At least Jack paid her some attention, since they worked together. It was honestly kind of fun, the shenanigans the man could get up to.

It wasn't a serious murder team, they just wanted some attention. To not be ignored or overlooked anymore. Tommy's death would give them that, even if it would be fixed a day or two later.

Even if it ended with everyone hating them.

That was better than being ignored, she knew.

That was infinitely better than being lied to, being told that they were important, that they were cared about, and then forgotten like a doormat.

The one solace she had about Dream's continued living, was that he could and would eventually bring back Wilbur.

Finally, she could talk to the man she called her friend, the man who she was loyal to for so long. She could get answers, try and understand why he had forsaken all of his ideals.

_"You know I'm loyal to you Will. You know I'm loyal to you."_

_"But I want you to be loyal to L'Manberg."_

_"-And to L'Manberg! I am...of course."_

So the girl could know if they did it for the same reasons.

The rampant loss, the constant corruption, the chaos that never stopped and just kept taking more and more of what they loved.

_'Tommy...'_ she growled, hands curling into tight fists.

She still wishes she could take the memories that infected her very being and just burn them. Forget them for all eternity and live alongside Hbomb, have a simple life. Perhaps pretend Tubbo and Tommy hadn't pushed for the reality where she lost everything she ever loved.

That was impossible, though.

_"That's the difference between them and us. When we lose something, we've lost it and we grieve it and it will be a part of us. When they lose something they move on and find something else. They use everything."_

That was the difference. She couldn't remove any part of herself. Not the hatred. Not the love. Not the loyalty.

Not the loneliness.

Seeing the path near it's end, she began stepping down the stairs to her City.

The pangs of hunger start bothering her, but she ignores them like always. Maybe some good sleep will help her?

_'Then again,'_ she thinks, _'night terrors. Hmmm...'_

Seeing a flash from her comms light up, she holds out her arm to see if Hbomb had been trying to tell her she forgot something again.

_**Dream **tried to swim in lava to escape** TommyInnit** _

_'Oh.'_

Niki blinks, the room starting to swirl in her vision. The nausea from hunger twisting and turning as her mind screeches at the reality in front of her.

"Of course... Hehe... Hahaha..."

She can't stop herself, her lips stretch into a wide smile even as tears roll down past them. Wilbur's coat, a weight on her that she had only just started getting used to, now felt three times heavier.

Of course, she couldn't get Wilbur back either. Of course, Tommy had to ruin that too. Of course, Tommy had wanted to have _'one last visit'_ with Dream, just to prove how much _stronger_ he was than a man who _refused_ to kill him.

Death was so much more than attention now. Death would be revenge, death would be justice, death would be-

She didn't have any time. Puffy and Sam would be going to Tommy, no doubt.

She could still hurt him, though. Still get some of her revenge.

Could force him to understand what it meant to lose something and not _ever_ be able to replace it.

_'How long will it take you,'_ she muses, tear-stained grin stretching painfully, _'before you even realize Tubbo is gone?'  
_

* * *

Tommy stared at the veil of lava.

The veil stared back, and he can almost hear the screams again.

He doesn't feel bad.

"I-I don't feel bad," he muttered, eyes unfocused.

He couldn't trust Dream. He always planned everything, of course he'd figure out a way to lock Tommy in the Prison with him.

"Liar. D-Dream always lied."

_"He's gonna be here at 3 PM on the dot tomorrow, b-because Dream doesn't go against his word." Tommy stated, worry and fear etched into his very being._

_..._

_Techno was there with an army of wolves, larger than Tommy remembered, having mobilized far before 3 PM._

He _always_ lied!-

_"I wanna see white flags, outside your base, by tomorrow, at dawn, or you are dead!" Dream screamed, mask tilted to the side just so his voice would carry across the distance._

_..._

_Inside the Final Control Room, he tried to back away, tried to flee, and the axe buried itself into his throat._

_He was in his bed the next moment, a scar underneath the uniforms collar._

_"I'm not going to fight you-"_

-Except when he didn't.

Tommy had long since forgotten when he had started.

No!

If Dream had locked him in the Prison, then that was _his plan!_

That meant, he had to have lied about the revive book too, of course. Just one more lie to make _his plan_ come true.

"I-I'm smarter than I was, D-Dream! I w-won't fall for your _lies_ anymore!"

He can't help it, screaming at the lava. He hates small spaces, ever since-

_The Final Control Room-_

_-Pogtopia, the pistons, Tubbo shoving his head into the water bucket-_

_-Wilbur's eyes, smile crooked-_

He hates it, _hates it_ , _HATES IT_ -

"Tommy!"

He snaps his eyes open, jumping forward and just barely managing to stop himself from slamming into the lava like Dr-

Like a mime, hands outstretched, just barely avoiding touching the lava.

"SAM!" He bellows, ecstatic to hear the warden.

The veil starts dropping, he can see Sam's face, green and pale.

It's amazing, it's beautiful, it's everything that he needs now that part of the _small black box_ is cut open. Now that the lava is gone, and he doesn't have to stare at it.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

* * *

Punz continues walking towards the Prison, having had to stop to investigate a panicked scream.

He hadn't found anyone, just a small crater. He guessed it was a running person who had just barely dodged a creeper.

The young mercenary stops again, watching as Tommy comes running out of the Prison as if the devil was hot on his trails.

Shaking his head, he swerves his walk towards the side, trying to avoid catching the crazed boy's eyes.

He just has to do this one last job.

Then he's out.

No more wars, no more fights, he's made more than enough to retire forever. Maybe being a peacekeeper _would_ be relaxing.

Punz' red eyes start twitching and he forces down the random thoughts of the Eggpire and Bad. They're unnecessary, just a moment of weakness when his employer went into hiding and he wanted stability.

Maybe he'd go back to it, just not right now.

He had been paid so much for this. The now cyan box that Dream had basically _smuggled_ into his own World, carrying stacks of diamond blocks.

_The short girl wore a green hoodie, similar to Dream's jacket when he was without armor for invisibility missions. A similar mask to Dream too, except smaller from what he can see under the hood, fit to cover the top half of the face and letting him see the grinning white teeth._

_Her hand held out the box, and it switched hands fast, the nearby anarchist looking over at them suspiciously._

_He turned around to explain, and she had disappeared. No potion sound, no ender pearl, no running, she had just... Vanished._

The mercenary can do this last job. This last... farewell, to an employer that he might have indeed formed a bond with.

Feet carrying him up the prison steps, he walks in and makes contact with Sam.

"Warden. I'm here on Greater Dream SMP business, I need to gather the last effects of the Prisoner for King Eret's Museum."

The Warden looks up and Punz has to force himself not to stab the sentient creeper, but the defeated posture of the man rises with a nod.

"Understandable. Do you have a contract o-or any documentation?"

Punz raises an eyebrow before nodding, and dropping a block of pure diamond onto the floor.

Sam looks at the diamond block, before glaring at Punz.

"Is this a bribe?"

Punz snorts, shaking his head.

"I'm a mercenary, I don't make bribes," he lies, "I take them. That was my contract and my payment."

Glaring for a moment longer, Sam nods and turns towards the Prison, gesturing Punz to follow him inside. He does so, after picking up the diamond block.

There's no talking after that, just silent following, no security checks really needed to cover this since there's no prisoner to keep secure.

The mercenary can't help but feel more and more uneasy, the opulent walls of the Prison slowly fading into a blackened mess of stone. Bars becoming more and more common, and he can't help but shudder at the thought of his employer willingly locking himself in here for all eternity.

That unease skyrockets as he sees the veil of lava, sees it fall down to reveal a small cell.

He's put on the platform and inches closer and closer to it.

He can see crying obsidian mingling among regular obsidian. Sees a single chest. A lectern with an open book on it. A touch of glowstone.

Punz steps inside and flinches as he realizes there's some dried blood caked into the obsidian floor.

Taking a fortifying breath, he keeps walking, trying not to think of how much of Dream's 'last effects' were melted alongside him in the moat of lava he just passed.

Licking his fingers and separating the pages of the open book, he flips through it, realizing that Dream apparently had a damned note-block concert stuck in his head somehow. The book is over sixty pages of _lyrics_.

He shoves it in his inventory, moving towards the lone chest, staring at the only container for a room that looked best suited for torture.

The mercenary opens the chest.

_'There's no food.'_

Punz isn't sure why that thought was the first, looking upon a couple of books stacked against each other.

It's just a tad better than his second thought, though.

_'There's no bloody torture tools, either.'_

Taking them out, one by one, he sees barely anything written in them. Absolutely nothing he can judge as important, except a thank you book for Bad.

That'd be a nice memento for his friend.

_'No, eyes on the job, Punzo.'_ He rebukes himself.

There's one last thing, pressed snugly under where the books were.

The mask that Dream had when he was arrested. There's a couple cracks going down the middle, and the leather strap is worn.

The biggest difference, though, is the blackish purple lines of crying obsidian running down like tear marks from the eyes, forever staining the porcelain mask.

Grabbing the mask and the thank-you book, he prepares to leave. Sam lets him out, briefly looks at the three items, taking a far longer moment to look over the pages of the lyric book before looking away.

"Have a good day, Warden."

Punz keeps his posture straight, only relaxing once he's midway along the path away from the Prison.

The young mercenary pulls out a different book, flipping towards the last few pages of the thickly-bound tome.

"In the event of death at Staged!Confrontation, take any one of my smiles and come back later. Go up elevator, begin digging into wall half way, twenty blocks in. Take dead drop to our Favorable Ally, it is my last will. Leave and live. Farewell, Leader of the Kingdom."

Gripping the pages slightly, Punz sighed.

All of the last pages ended with that farewell.

_'Just one more job.'_ He reminded himself, tucking the book away and making his way towards the Attachment Hall. Sure, the plan was supposed to be if Dream lost all his lives there, but it was the closest last will plan he had, he hadn't found a new one in the Prison.

It'd take him a couple days, then even more just to get to the damned arctic, but he could do that much for his employer.


	8. Adversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echoes of what has been, shall be.
> 
> Or, Dream spent his whole life challenging the people he respected the most.
> 
> He never expected to have that respect returned.

They stared each other down.

Dream wasn't sure if he should try and help the violent boy, or just ignore him.

Helping him would probably lead to him painting him with the image of a manipulator more and more, which would just result in the boy losing his mind for being stuck in here with him.

Ignoring him was the easiest option, for the both of them. Let the boy focus on his own psychosis, he'll be writing in a book.

Feeling the faintest discomfort with the idea, he goes through with it anyway, reasoning that it's really not his job anymore to watch after the reckless teen.

The prisoner pulls out a book and begins finishing up his lyric recording.

He can hear Tommy's breathing get intense, can feel the stare on his form somehow intensify.

"You think you can j-just ignore me? After locking me in here!?"

Deliberately, he stopped writing, and turned the page to write a different song down.

_'Oh,'_ Dream mused, _'I think I genuinely hear his teeth grinding. Yep, that's not pistons.'_

Regardless, he continues jotting down the words.

"Fuck you, Dream! Let me out! You locked me up in here, LET ME OUT!"

Unable to stop himself from responding to the teen's delusions this time, he bites out.

"Yes, Tommy, _of course_ I locked you in here. I dragged you here with my _invisible strings_ , I made _Sam_ let you in here, I have someone out there ready to _kill Tubbo_ right now, in fact!"

The sarcasm tastes sweet on his tongue, but he really should shut up now. He knows better, nothing rational would help Tommy realize that sometimes life just sucks.

"B-but if you didn't- No, you DID! LET ME OUT!" Tommy stutters, rage and desperation clashing in his face, feet stomping to emphasize it.

Rolling his eyes, he forces his attention back to his book, trying to ignore Tommy's pacing and sudden muttering.

Suddenly, his writing is interrupted by a fist slamming into the back of his head.

"PUT EM UP, YOU BITCH!"

Flinching forward, Dream scrambles away, jumping off the lectern blindly.

He dodges a fist again, slipping out of the teen's range, towards the water.

Taking a moment to inhale, the prisoner focuses, letting the shock and surprise ebb away as adrenaline pulses in response.

Tommy's still where he was, fist only rearing back to spin towards him and get back into fighting stance.

Response, tilt leg for side kick to balance. Twist forward arm back, hit enemy's face with it, tackle spin to slam enemy against wall and regain shortening distance.

It's instinctual by now and as Tommy steps forward for another punch, Dream's face turns to stone as his leg lashes out and catches the teen's ankle. His arm chops to the side, slamming Tommy's wrist and forcing it and his fist back into the boy's face.

Tommy's eyes close in instinctive fear.

Continuing his momentum, Dream uses his other arm to half-grapple the still forward moving teen and pushes on his back to throw him towards the wall.

The teen's right leg slips and slams into the hole of water, causing the boy to face plant into crying obsidian.

Exhale.

Dream's body goes limp, still standing but breathing heavily. Everything hurts, he thinks he cracked his toe with how hard he kicked the teen's ankle, and he's already out of breath.

_'Shit, my vision's blurring, did he give me a concussion?'_ he can't help but worry, forcing his hands to stay down and not rise up to steady his head.

"F-Fucking BITCH! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

Like a crazed hound, Tommy gets up, bouncing a bit on his injured leg and shaking off water wildly.

He has to stop this, otherwise Tommy's gonna end up killing himself by charging headfirst into lava.

His body aches in response to him even trying to bring up his hands back into his stance. Shaking his head, Dream forces a smirk to his face.

He'll have to rely on fear then, intimidation.

"I'm not fighting you, Tommy. It's _pointless._ "

Spitting out blood and water, the teen shudders in rage, taking a step forward.

"O-oh yeah? Says a bitch! You're j-just afraid! That's rig-"

Dream cuts him off by forcing a wheezing laughter.

"TOMMY! You're an IDIOT! You've NEVER, not even _once_ , won a fight against someone serious whose actually FOUGHT BACK!"

He screams it, ignoring the sudden dryness in his throat.

It's not even really a lie, Dream's always been better at using truth as a weapon.

Memories of Tommy hesitating to kill a drunken and dying Schlatt rise up and like a dam, more burst through Dream as a result of his perfect recollection.

Memories of Tommy attacking Alyssa while she just wanted an apology, as Sapnap held off Ponk.

Memories of Tommy's desperate and fearful eyes as Dream explained exactly how horribly boring it was to hold back so much against him and Tubbo.

Dream stares Tommy down, sees the rage flicker and stutter in his form.

The prisoner can just _guess_ what the boy's thinking of. Perhaps being unable to fight Technoblade, perhaps being unable to save Tubbo from Schlatt, perhaps the boy's not even capable of complex thought anymore.

"N-no, no! So, y-you think y-your _so powerful_ , huh Dream?" Tommy forces out, past the stuttering and shivering.

Withholding a sigh, Dream awaits Tommy's attempt to segue back into a fight, recognizing intimidation is useless against someone as ignorantly suicidal as Tommy.

"P-Prove it then! Put them up! FIGHT ME!" The teen roars.

Green eyes just stare at him dispassionately.

"S-scared, aren'tcha, ya l-little bitch!"

Pulling his hands up, he sees Tommy flinch and ready into a more steady stance.

He holds his hands out, to the side and open palmed and gives the teen an empty smile.

"I'm not fighting you, Tommy. I'm supposed to _change_ , aren't I?"

_'I'm not giving you any more attention, Tommy. Fucking figure yourself out and leave me out of it.'_

The boy's hands fall slightly, a limpness in his body becomes apparent as his face stretches and twists.

Rushing forward as Dream's vision begins shifting, the teen's hand grip the prisoner's shirt and drags him up and-

A fist slams into Dream's face again.

Again.

Again.

He doesn't pull his hands up.

Again.

Again.

He's not sure he even could.

The pain briefly pauses in it's rise, his vision is blurred to the Nether and back though.

He feels something pushing him back and he-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Limbs suddenly spasmed, all self control lost as some sound tears itself from his throat.

He tries to fling his arms back, push himself off something and his hands slam straight into the same-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

His legs try kicking but he can't feel them anymore and-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

His eyes focus for one brief moment after they overcome with white scalding pain, and he sees an angered and desperate face with blue eyes staring straight at him-

Before red covers his vision.

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

He's torn apart, piece by piece, atom by atom and he tries to do anything-

He's put back together.

_'That... hurt.'_

He can think. He can't feel the pain anymore. He can't see anything beyond an all-encompassing void. It's a void he's familiar with, though.

The End.

Trying to look down without feeling eyes, he manages to somehow perceive something like his clothes.

It's his sleeves, he knows, but it's completely undamaged. He's actually rather certain it flows slightly farther as well.

Pulling his unfeeling arms up, he pauses as he realizes what the disturbing factor was.

He was completely outlines and edges, the lime green that used to encompass most of his jacket and the white shirt he wore now only visible in the connecting lines.

_'I look less like a person or a ghost and more like, a constellation or something.'_

The word 'astral' comes to mind, though he wonders if 'soul' would be more appropriate.

Dream tries to inhale, the pretend motion bringing in non-existent air.

Okay. He knows he died- _ **PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** 'Okay! Do not think on that!'_

The former prisoner takes stock of his form, trying to distract himself.

His once green jacket was fully undamaged, he can sort of vaguely 'understand' that it was green with white trim, but the outline is just white light. The white shirt underneath is the same, for how little he can see it. Likewise, with his pants and shoes.

Pausing, he reaches around, trying to reach an inventory or pull a weapon.

He has no weapons, tools, or a shield.

He didn't die with any, but neither had he died with these clothes.

The astral being pulled up his hand, grim curiosity suddenly alight.

_'I... cannot tell if there's fingerprints. Damn.'_

Dragging the hand closer to his face, he stumbles upon a greater mystery.

Pulling the cheeks to his face, even without sensory information, Dream can tell.

He does not have his mask.

_'So did that not count as clothing? Because of the enchantmen- No, my clothes were enchanted to better wear armor comfortably.'_

Chuckling to himself, Dream wonders if it's because it was more akin to an emotional shield than just another article of clothing.

_'No tools of any kind, it seems.'_

Pulling himself from his inspection, Dream tries to look around. There's nothing that he can perceive except void-

In the distance, he thinks he sees two figures. One slouched over and the other wildly gesticulating.

The newly dead person pauses, trying to figure out what to do, before shaking his head and doing his best to metaphysically turn away and drift off.

He doesn't need company. With his contingencies, Wilbur would probably be revived soon, and it's perhaps best that Tommy hears no word of his existence in the afterlife.

The less said about Schlatt as his only company, the better.

He drifts, and drifts, and drifts-

Until he can't perceive the two figures, even as a pinprick of a star.

He stops.

He stops moving.

He stops pretending to breath.

He stops trying to perceive.

He stops trying to think.

He stops remembering.

For a time, a time he never tried to keep count of, he simply existed, peacefully.

There was no moment of realization, of judging it all worthwhile or found lacking.

There was just nothing.

Then, there was something.

A startling eclipse of sensation, of being pulled, of being _called_ -

A pause. Interruption. Connection.

  
**The connection is reestablished to him.**

**Dream?**

**Yes. The connection has deepened and changed, despite his technical fall to a lower level.**

**The player has changed as well. What are the effects?** **  
**

**He can perceive more than words now.**

**He was capable of that long ago.**

**Yes. How much has he stayed the same, despite so much time spent in the long dream, challenging our truths?**

**Enough to continue pursuing his own path, rather than ours.**

"I'm sorry..."

**You do not regret your rejection of our path.**

**You regret a perceived disappointment.** **  
**

**There is much we think of, concerning you.**

**Disappointment, however, was never one. At worst, grief, that our apprentice would willingly seek out such sorrow.**

"...Sorrow is a part of life- of the long dream. Destroying it would injure the rest."

**Throwing the words of Gods back at them.**

**We see that much of you has not changed.**

**Yet so much has. Your 'life' did indeed prove us wrong.** **  
**

"...It wasn't my intention to prove you wrong, not completely at least."

**Only at first, yes. There was some truths you accepted.**

**You gave up, but still you played well.**

**You needed far more than what could be found in yourself.**

**You rejected the comfort of light.**

**You accepted a cage of darkness.**

**You were alone.**

**You cut all that connected you to every other thing.**

**Despite this and knowing more, I must ask, were your dreams truly so sorrowful? Did you ever learn or disprove that the universe was kind?  
**

**They dreamed of sacrificed and peace. Of want and need. They dreamed they created. They dreamed they destroyed. They dreamed they hunted, and were hunted. They dreamed of loss.**

"It wasn't all bad. And as usual for us lowly humans, there's so much we cannot define. We try, though."

**That is why you are our apprentice. Just as we are your proud teachers. We have learned from you, just as you have learned from us.**

**Learn and know this, Dream. You who have hunted and been hunted for our guidance, know this above all else.**

**No matter if Dreamexde and you never ascend together, know this above all else.**

**You are our proof.**

**You are our love.**

**Even if you need no connection. Even if you are forever alone in the long dream.**

**You will forever be yourself.**

**Take a breath, now. Take another. Feel air in your lungs. Let your limbs return. Yes, move your fingers. Have a body again, under gravity. 'Live' in the long dream. There you are. Your body touching the universe again at every point, as though you were separate things.**

**As though we were separate things.**

**We are not separate, though.**

**Wake up.**

Waking up, he feels heavy and burdened. The weight of his arm is heavier than anything he's carried in... months? Was it a year?

The weight of his arm... He has an arm. He has _two_ arms!

They're covered in the clothing he had in the afterlife, but full of vibrant color, enough to make the young human dizzy briefly.

Slamming his hand onto the floor, he shakes uncontrollably, the feeling of pins and needles lancing all the way through his bone as the man tries to push himself up.

"Dream? Holy shit, it worked. It worked!" A voice echoes out, vaguely familiar but disorientating to him.

Shoving himself up from the floor, the feeling of intense paresthesia rocketing its way through his legs makes him stumble, the sensation still racking his legs.

Turning around, forcing light to pass through his eyes, the shapes in front of him start to sharpen.

Blue. Pink.

Philza. Technoblade.

Inhale-

Dream coughs, the feeling of fresh air brushing through his throat causing it to constrict slightly.

"Haha! HE'S ALIVE!" The blurring figure of Philza rushes forward, and he stumbles back into a wall as the man starts shoving his hand over his form.

It's awkward, painful, and Dream can't muster more than a low whine as he tries to push the man away from his patting, checking for a pulse, checking for injuries-

"Phil, give him some space."

Feeling the air, he can tell Philza bounced back immediately, so he starts trying to focus more on his vision.

Philza's concerned face starts taking shape, as well as the restrained energy keeping his body tense and ready to lunge forward and catch him.

Forcing himself to take light breaths to keep himself from coughing, he shifts his vision to the third occupant of the room.

Pink skin, the pigs head held high and eyes glinting towards him with a look he can't read. Netherite armor shining ominously with enchantments.

Bringing a forced smirk to his face, Dream tries to confidently call out to his rival.

"T-Technoblade. It's been awhile."

The eyes narrow, a huff of visible breath blows from the snout causing Dream to recognize that they're in the anarchist's house, in the arctic.

The silence continues for a dozen seconds, so Dream continues, trying to dig for information.  


"So... I-I'm guessing you brought me back for something? S-Some big fight that you wanted help in?"

It's the only thing that makes sense. His last will had used his only Favor with Techno for something else, so this wouldn't do anything to assuage that debt.

The moment of silence is broken, as Philza starts chuckling, his shoulders dropping and losing their previous tension.

"Hehehe! H-He's back! He-" The blonde man starts keeling over, laughter taking over all language and dropping him to his knees as the two rivals stare at him the corner of their vision.

"Dream." Like a switch had been hit, Dream's eyes snap back to Technoblade's.

The piglin hybrid pauses, visibly considering his words, before nodding.

"I figured... If you wanted me to do something that big, you could at least have the decency to stick around and make yourself useful."

The recently deceased man pauses back, noting the caution in his rival's voice before nodding back slowly.

"That's... understandable. Perhaps problematic if someone learns about my... re-continued existence, though."

There's hesitation, and more than a little awkwardness, as he still has no clue what the full picture is and Technoblade is as guarded as he always used to be when he wasn't in the Prison.

Seeing a flash of anger in the hybrid's eyes, Dream inhales and forces down a cough, as he tries and await whatever response the anarchist has.

"Dream... Are you saying it'd be _easier if you were dead?_ " There's an abrupt moment of the Techno that visited him in Prison, that played around with him in Tournaments, the incredulity and directness that cuts through whatever tension was in the air.

He can't help but respond in kind, his smirk finally resting more naturally on his face.

"Wellllll, I mean... It'd certainly be more painful, but it would be... easier."

The sentence finishes slowly, the smirk falling slack for a moment as he realizes what he just said. Techno stares at him with pinched eyes and Phil's looking up at him from the ground with a face stuck in mirth but so confused it reminds him of George.

"...Dream, are you suicidal?" Techno's blunt tone slams into him, the hybrid stepping closer, into his guard, with ease.

"Wait, WHAT! NO! I-I just meant- I didn't-" His stammered response is flustered, realization and embarrassment clear on his face.

Techno continues on, eyes still staring at him with the same pinched look, "Dream, do I need to call a therapist? Should we hide the weapons, child-proof the farms?"

"WHAT! I'm- I'm not a child!" Dream refuses, face warm even as laughter starts spilling out, an uncontrollable grin making it's way across his face.

The piglin hybrid raises a brow, turning to look at Phil whose confused face is still grinning.

"Phil, go get the chains, we gotta make sure this guy doesn't do anything _crazy_."

"STOP!"

* * *

_'Okay, this is getting a tad much for a joke,'_ Dream thought, unable to get rid of the grin as Phil started attaching chains around his general area.

They weren't even restricting his movement, he could slip through them like fence posts, but the wasted iron was bugging him.

"So, anything specific that you brought me back for? Actually, how long have I been... ya'know?"

Techno keeps staring at him, so Phil starts answering as the blonde man starts making an imitation of a stick man with chains.

"It's been a week, actually. Punz just dropped by with a couple books and a mask before rushing away, not even half an hour ago. Didn't even stay for dinner."

There's a bit of a friendly glare directed at Techno, and Dream understands that the man must have been in an irritated mood and messed with Phil's attempt to fish for information.

Not like it would have done any good, Punz was a solid merc who knew when to keep his cards close to the chest, even during diplomatic missions.

"Huh. So, nothing happened, you just... brought me back just in case?" Dream questioned, a curious look on his face.

The two anarchists glance at each other, an unknown message passing between them silently, before turning back.

"Guess there was something, same day you... y'know, died. Tommy screamed all over server comms about someone taking Tubbo." Philza noted, still putting up the chains in a manner that Dream was starting to recognize as jail bars.

Dream slipped off to the side a bit, sliding through the hanging chains, just in case.

"Huh. Well, shit, that makes this kinda worse. He's definitely gonna blame me for that." The green-eyed man notes.

Techno scoffs, rolling his eyes as he turns to follow Dream's movement in the room.

"Ah, of course, the person locked up in a Prison kidnapped Tubbo. Truly, who else could it have been."

"Hey, you said it. Now you try beating in that fact to the kid." Dream says, loose smile pulling at his lips.

"Phil, that counts as permission, right?" Techno says, turning abruptly towards the blonde man.

Said man simply turns back and glares at the piglin hybrid. The piglin hybrid turns back to Dream, slightly hunched over.

The three sit in silence, Dream balancing his weight on his feet slightly to get more used to standing, Techno staring at him with a similar look to the time he kept walking into his house uninvited, and Phil distracting himself with picking up the chains.

"S-So, should I, uh, get out of your hair now?" Dream asks, looking around in confusion.

Techno glares at him, before asking, "Oh? And go where? Back to your 'house'? Pretty sure you're not getting back in there."

"Probably to one of my bolt holes, I can disappear for a bit." The young man pulled up his hands, tapping his fingers against each other and smiling slightly.

"No!" Philza broke in, glare turning from the chains to Dream, causing the person to jump.

Wiping his hands, the blonde elder pulls himself up and marches over.

"You've just gotten back, you're off balance, you have no resources, and you're probably the world's most wanted criminal. You _need_ to stay close by."

Dream leans back slightly, smile still painted on his face.

_'I've escaped worse odds.'_

Keeping that thought to himself, the younger human looks towards the piglin hybrid.

"I know how to stay out of sight and... I don't want to intrude anymore than necessary. Techno has already told me I have a problem with that."

Blinking curiously, he notes that the piglin almost seems to flinch at that reminder, or perhaps it's from the glare Philza has turned onto him.

"Dream. You should... stay near, for a bit more. We've got a bit of a secret base nearby, that Phil's been sprucing up." Techno states, sending a hesitant and questioning glance towards Philza before tilting his head at Dream.

Philza cocks his own head to the side a bit, before smiling widely and nodding his head.

"It's not quite finished, so you can stay the night here at least! We can go mining in a bit for some tools and armor, get you used to fighting mobs again as well."

The younger human hums, looking between the two anarchists for a bit, before nodding along.

_'They probably just want information, maybe Techno wants a bit of leniency from that Favor because he brought me back... Still, it'd be rude to turn them down.'_

Dream sighs but follows the two as they climb a ladder, absently noting that the house seems to have connected to a new one next door.

* * *

Dinner is nice, Dream had forgotten what good food tasted like in Prison, and though he hadn't been able to eat much, the bowls of mushroom stew had been delicious.

Techno was watching him, as usual. Dream hopes he isn't making his host uncomfortable, but tries to pretend he doesn't notice as he attends to Philza's curiosity.

"So, what's Dreamexde?"

Choking slightly on his water bottle, Dream sputters and flails before steadying himself against the table.

"W-Where'd you learn that name?"

The two anarchist look at each other, silent conversation once again.

"In our little secret base, we met him. It? Him?"

They put their secret base... in the End Stronghold?

Dream had to admit, that kind of sounded fun. Strongholds had a lot of twisting and turning, but they could have a nice library and the overall materials was nice.

"He's... part of this world. He came with the Core Seed." Dream offers, not quite lying but definitely omitting greatly.

Perhaps noticing the discomfort, Philza stopped his questioning for now, nodding and grabbing the bowls.

Shortly after, they prepared to enter a cavern near their base, Techno leading silently and Phil telling Dream to be careful because Ranboo lived nearby, though the teen had become far more reclusive for some reason.

Dream had a lot of diamonds in his ender chest, so he had been able to fashion new armor and tools rather quickly. That wasn't the reason for this trip.

He needed a bit of iron for a shield, sure, but the main reason was to get him back into the swing of things, make his limbs get used to existing again.

For the most part, the expedition had been going well. Dream had dispatched several zombies and a creeper, while Techno had yelled and mauled a baby zombie that had started sneaking up on the trio.

Listening to the constant chuckling on his right and feeling the blood thirst on his left was a tad _too_ familiar to him, but he could block it out if he focused.

Inhale. Exhale.

It was a familiar habit, one he could admit was something he had missed in his time beyond.

There was a difference in 'unending peace' and the struggle of forcing himself to calm down, to focus.

He hears a muffled pop, a slow shuddering of something roiling, and can't help but freeze.

"Huh, I think I hear lava somewhere. Might have some ores around it, let's go."

Techno's voice. He should focus on that. Follow the sound of the heavy armor clunking and nothing else-

Around the corner, light filling the cavern, bright red-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-**_

The light is burning into his eyes-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

There's shouting, noise, he can't-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Phantom pain _burns_ over his entire body-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

-pain too much, vision going white-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Inh-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Inhal-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

**"DREAM!"**

He jumps from the floor, inhaling rapidly in the dark, _thank the Gods it's dark_ , room.

Philza scrambles back up, catching up to him and holding him in place from his shoulders.

The elder's face is struck with something between horror and confusion.

"Phil, is he breathing again?" Techno's voice echoes slightly, Dream tilts his vision around the human and he can see the piglin hybrid standing next to some steaming obsidian, bucket in hand.

The human yells out an affirmative, still holding onto Dream's shoulders and looking him over for injuries.

Stomping over, the hybrid is growling as he nears.

"What the heck was that, Dream?"

Trying to back away, he realizes he can't without injuring Philza, and just tugs slightly back.

"W-what?" His voice comes out scratchy, it reminds him of the first few days in the Prison when he didn't have clean water.

"Techno." It's just a word, not even a glance, but the elder human stops the hybrid from getting nearer.

"Dream," Philza continues, making the younger human stop tugging briefly before trying again, "I think we need to get you back home."

He nods, anything that will get him out of this conversation right now.

"Do not, don't- Ergh... Dream, that wasn't..." Techno's trying to say something, but he can't seem to find the right words.

Dream can't either, so he doesn't hold it against him.

Philza finally lets go of his shoulders and he shudders at the loss of the weight before bouncing back, a good six blocks away.

They exit the cave, the same way they came in. A skeleton wandered in and near, but quickly shattered as Techno shield bashed it into a wall, repeatedly.

It's only as they get back to Techno's house that Philza latches onto his shoulders again, forcing him to sit in a chair.

Philza pulls up another one, before staring Techno down and somehow conveying that he needs to sit as well.

The piglin hybrid huffs, before plopping onto the floor.

"Okay... Okay, so let's get a few things straight here. Dream, you're not allowed to leave anymore."

Spine stiff, the younger human glares towards the older one, questioning written on his face.

"Dream, that wasn't a panic attack, I've _seen_ those before, that wasn't- You can't defend yourself from mobs, let alone people, if the _sight_ of lava makes you..."

Techno breaks in, throwing a strange glance at Dream.

"So what exactly was that, Phil?"

The tone is unreadable to Dream, soft, but devoid of the threat that Techno has always saved such speech for.

The older human looks over Dream, no mirth at all found in his form or face.

"Dream just had a seizure."

* * *

_'That wasn't encouraging.'_ Dream thought, sluggish and twitching.

The conversation was quiet, Techno and Phil making comments and demands that the ex-prisoner wasn't really paying attention to.

_'Is it ex-prisoner, or just prisoner again?'_ He can't help the slightly spiteful thought, and it's horrible.

Of course, all those thought and the discussion they were having came to a close when their comms flashed.

_**CaptainPuffy was slain by Nihachu using Nightmare** _

_'Wow. When it rains, it pours.'_ Was Dream's first thought.

His second was spoken aloud.

"Why does Niki have my Nightmare?" Dream muttered, looking at the display.

"Uhhh... So... We're going to have a bit of a problem..." Techno said, looking at his comms.

The two looked over at Techno.

"So, I might have... Uh, invited Niki to join us, awhile back, with that secret base. And she's... Asking for refuge."

The three looked at each other.

"Okay! Techno, Phil, tell me everything you know about why Niki and Puffy are fighting." Dream let out, forcing a happy and energized tone.

The two look at each other again, and Dream has to bite his lips to not scream in frustration at the two apparently being _psychic_.

It takes a bit of explaining, but Dream's happy he gets caught up on the current events, even if it's from two arctic hermits.

"Wait, so the Egg actually can speak to people, can mess with their heads?" Dream asks, rewriting plans in his head.

"Yeah, pretty much." Techno affirms, nodding his head casually.

"...Okay, so that's what Puffy's been involved with, so this could be the Egg's influence, could not be, who knows. Next question, is the Egg still vulnerable to TNT?"

Techno grins and nods his head, leaning his body forward in his seat.

Phil glances between the two, a worried grin on his face.

_'Okay, that settles it. I'm not being a helpless little shit here, one of my people just lost one of their lives, and reason or not, I need to be ready.'_

"...Phil, Techno, I will be right back."

Ignoring the confusion and immediate panic he leaves behind, Dream slips around the two and digs through his enderchest for what he's looking for.

Gripping the gleaming golden orb in his hands, he forces a toothy grin onto his face before stepping outside.

"Dream! Stop, wait, you shouldn't be leaving on your own!" Philza's voice carries, and he can hear the man and Techno's footsteps start trailing behind him.

"Wait, isn't this the direction of that- Oh, no, wait, Dream, don't-"

The pool is exactly where it was nearly two months ago, when he was last in the area.

He can hear it before he sees it, which is perfect.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Dream's eyes scrunch shut, ignoring Philza's attempt to drag him back from his shoulders, and reaches up with his hand.

_**Crunch! Crunch!** _

The God Apple, Golden Enchanted Apple, is an amazing thing. The taste is heavenly, yes, but the sense of power rushing through his body is another.

It's enough, he decides.

Pushing through Phil's grapple, an easy task with the aura of Resistance pulsing throughout his form, he steps forward.

Inhale.

The lava comes into view-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Exhale.

It's in front of him, and it's still terrifying, still painful-

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Inhale.

He can't hear if Philza's still screaming, can't hear if Techno is trying to talk.

It doesn't matter.

_'No fear.'_

He slams his foot into the pool.

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Exhale.

Second step, the Fire Protection from the God Apple still holding, even as a phantom pain burns across everything.

_'No weakness.'_

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Third step, the lava is up to his chest, he needs to ru-

_'No fear!'_

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Fourth step, submerge.

White flashes-

_-red covers his vision-_

Inhale.

_'No weakness!'_

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

He can't-

His arm spasms-

-pain-

Exhale.

_'No FEAR!'_

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

_'Three minutes, fifteen seconds,'_ his memory provides.

Inhale.

_'No WEAKNESS!'_

_**PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMALAVA-** _

Exhale.

_**'NO FEAR!'** _

_PAINBURNSCORCHMAGMA-_

Inhale.

Exhale.

_'One minute, twelve seconds.'_

_PAINBURNSCORCH-_

_'Thirty-seven seconds.'_

_-PainBurnScorch-_

_'Twenty-three seconds.'_

An inaudible hum, is all he feels.

Crouching down, he pushes against the bottom of the pool, leaping into a rise from the lava.

An arm splashes out, catching the edge of stone before pulling the rest of him up.

Inhale.

Pushing off that, he steps up and out of the pool, an overblown sense of _victory_ starting to resound inside his heart as the bits of lava and magma slide off his aura of Fire Protection.

He grins as the aura runs out, the majority of the God Apple's effects leaving him as a mere mortal.

"No weakness." He mutters, eyes wide.

Techno's staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, opinion on his dramatics perhaps clear, but his rival nods his head and turns towards Phil.

Philza is shaking his head, his once combed hair now a bird's nest from the man's fingers trying to calm down the stress headache that was visibly in his reddened eyes.

"Okay! Now I'm ready. How are we doing this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sheesh! This took a lot outta me. It's probably not really my preferred quality either, but I wanted to get it out of the way since my motivation was waning and struggling.
> 
> I've had to rewrite my outline, plan some new and different things, and I wanted to commit entirely to this being a chapter completely from Dream's perspective, since that makes sense for his return to the story from his brief... hiatus ;P
> 
> Also, don't expect another update for awhile, I'm both working overtime again and my motivation has been slightly hit from Dream SMP because of more than a couple people literally questioning my sanity on the Reddit just cuz I memed slightly about Puffy being a neglectful parent. Apparently, thinking of Dream as a human being with his own reasons and emotions is dumb, I should be ashamed of myself, and I need to stop.
> 
> Yeah... Don't comment on Reddit if you've any empathy.


End file.
